Our Mission:

The community policing philosophy is the basis for our service delivery to the public. The Essex County OPP has three full-time community services officers. These officers participate in your schools and communities. Your community services officers are:

Kingsville:	Constable Jason Twaddle
Lakeshore:	Constable Karen Gignac-Trudell
Tecumseh:	Constable Wendy Fisher

A fourth full-time officer; Constable Janet Hayes is our media relations officer.

The Essex County OPP Cop Camp is an annual event involving approximately 48 students from elementary schools across Essex County (Lakeshore, Kingsville, Pelee Island and Tecumseh) who attend and benefit from a week of directed and supervised activities. They will be taught the importance of teamwork along with other positive life skills. They will be given guidance by police officers, auxiliary members and other caring, trained volunteers. These youths are recent graduates of the VIP program (Values, Influences and Peers) and are selected by their individual schools to attend the Camp. They have been selected based upon a number of criteria including their positive contributions to the V.I.P. class and demonstrated leadership potential.

It is clearly evident that the future of our communities, province and country will rely upon the development and promotion of citizens able to lead with integrity and confidence in all facets of their lives. The Essex County OPP Cop Camp takes place during the latter part of August each year. Its roots began with the former Kingsville Police Service and continued by the Essex County OPP following municipal amalgamation. This year marked the 14th Anniversary of the camp. The program has been expanded to include youth from all locations served by the Essex County OPP. The event is held at the Cedarwin campsite in Kingsville, Ontario. The young campers actively participate in a variety of activities including but not limited to, indoor rock climbing, a movie night, a lake fishing charter, swimming, mini-golf, exotic animal show, rope climbing and various teambuilding / leadership exercises. In addition to honing their team participation and leadership skills, each youth gains wonderful and lasting memories along with healthy and invaluable new friendships. They are also able to interact with caring and dedicated police officers and mentors. The feedback received from the campers and their parents have been consistently positive throughout its existence.

The Essex County Cop Camp exists solely by the generous contributions from organizations and citizens within our communities. The total operating cost last year for Cop Camp was approximately $12,000. We have been very fortunate in the past to have businesses, service organizations trade unions and giving citizins within Essex County who pledge financial sponsorship for the operation of the camp. These funds assist in providing the accommodations, meals, supplies, transportation and daily scheduled activities. The police and auxiliary officers and civilians involved donate their time to staff the event. The government does not provide funding and the Essex County OPP is a non-profit entity. A charitable organization tax receipt is provided with donations. Sponsors are acknowledged for their generosity through our media releases conducted at the completion of each camp experience.

Cop Camp affords a valuable opportunity to build bridges between youth and law enforcement and provides a foundation upon which to build leadership skill development. Please feel free to contact P/C Janet Hayes at your convenience should you have any questions. On behalf of our Essex County Cop Camp Committee, thank you for your consideration.

P/C Janet Hayes
(519) 723-2491