A changing of the guard has taken place recently at the Chatham-Kent Police Service.
After five years as the department’s media relations officer, Const. Renee Cowell, originally from Dresden, is getting back on the road into community patrol. Const. Kelly Helbin, who is originally from Wallaceburg, has taken over for Cowell as the media spokesperson for the CKPS.
Cowell was hired in 1995 by Wallaceburg Police Department and after amalgamation in 1998, she began her policing career in Chatham, with the newly formed Chatham-Kent Police Service.
Cowell said she spent her first 10 years in community patrol.
“Front line policing in a cruiser, in uniform… the real police officers if you will,” she said.
“From there I was lucky to do some work at the Chatham-Kent Court House and than I went into the Forensics Unit., where I spent six years. While I was on community patrol I was the first female on our Critical Incident Response Team (CIRT). So that was a big thing at the time being the first female on the team, kind of leading the way. Since then there has been other women on the team.”
After her stint in forensics, Cowell took over for Michael Pearce as the media relations officer for the CKPS and has spent the last five years in that role.
Brandon Sands missing person investigation
Cowell said there are a number of cases that stand out to her as being extra challenging in her five years as the media relations officer.
The first big case on her docket was a missing person investigation in Wallaceburg, involving 25-year-old Brandon Sands back in 2011.
“Coming in brand new to media relations, that was a very complex investigation and it was an ongoing investigation,” she said.
“It was very difficult. As much as we were doing the best we could to find Mr. Sands, we just weren’t getting that information. It was difficult with the weather with search efforts. It was very frustrating to see the family struggling and that we couldn’t provide them answers when they were looking to us for answers.”
Cowell said it was a frustrating couple of months.
“That was my first exposure to being the face of the CKPS,” she said. “Trying to speak to the family and the public when you really don’t have a lot to offer. It is a very sensitive issue because we are trying to find their son and can’t. So it was very frustrating. That was my first big incident here in media.”
Sands went missing on Boxing Day in 2011. His body was found in the Sydenham River in March of 2012.
Lev Tahor
Cowell said it was a challenging case when the Lev Tahor group moved into Chatham-Kent back in 2013/2014.
“That brought national attention across North America,” she said.
“I can remember doing interviews across Canada and into the United States. I was doing french interviews as well from Quebec because it was led to believe that they had moved from Quebec.”
Cowell said was getting inundated with phone calls and interview requests.
“That was very challenging,” she said.
“A television station from Toronto came down and they set up shop in the lobby. They had all the lights and their own camera man and their reporter… it was almost intimidating. That was a big one.”
Dog fighting case
The dog fighting investigation from the Tilbury area in 2015 was the one case that stuck with her the most.
“Being an animal lover and having to speak to an incident that as a human you don’t understand has probably been one of the most difficult press conferences that I have been part of,” Cowell said.
“Standing up there in front of a room full of people. Mostly reporters and one was LIVE. Speaking to an incident that was very emotional. I felt very emotional speaking to it. Again having to keep my composure as a police officer.”
Cowell said her opinion that day did not matter.
“I was speaking on behalf of the police service and speaking to the investigation,” she said.
“What I felt had to be kept, honestly, within my vest. I still get emotional speaking to it because it still causes me a lot of emotional anxiety over speaking to an incident that as a human I cannot comprehend.”
Forensics to media
Cowell said it was a big difference for her going from forensics to media.
“You are dealing with a lot of serious calls with the Forensics Unit. The majority of our calls is sudden deaths, suicides,” she said.
“Coming up here was a breath of fresh air if you will. Dealing with living and breathing human beings again. It was a huge change, because I was dealing with the public again. In forensics you are really behind the scenes. You are not one of the first ones on scene. You come in kind of after the fact and start your investigation and your duties.”
Being in media relations, you are front and foremost.
“You are the face of the police service, so you are up at the front of these investigations speaking to them so that was a big learning curve for me,” Cowell said.
“I can honestly say these past five years have been wonderful. It has been a pleasure and an honour to have been the face of the Chatham-Kent Police. Moving forward, it is now time for my professional development and growth that I do move on. I am looking forward to passing the torch off to Kelly and wishing her all the best.”
Having different roles is important
Cowell said having many different roles in your policing career, makes you a better officer.
“I have been very fortunate in my career,” she said.
“I have had a lot of diversity with being on community patrol, courts. In Wallaceburg I was a bicycle patrol officer. So I have been very fortunate in my career and I want to make that very well known. I think it is important that officers do move around within the police service. There is a lot of different positions within a police service and I think its important that officers do move around because you get experience and exposure in specialty units which ultimately just makes you a better police officer with your investigative skills.”
Challenges with media relations position
Releasing information in a timely and relevant manner and learning what information can be released were some of the challenges for Cowell as the media relations officer.
“At times as a police officer we have information, but to protect the integrity of the investigation, we just can’t release it at this time,” she said. “A lot of that was just learning what information to release at what time in the best time of the whole entire investigation.”
Cowell said in the last five years, social media has really jumped up as being an investigative tools.
“We have really began to make a push with Facebook and Twitter and using these social media platforms as investigative tools,” she said.
“So you will notice in the past few years we have really been pushing suspect images and video. We are trying to get that out there. Really, police can’t be everywhere at all times. We can’t keep the community safe by ourselves. Keeping Chatham-Kent safe is a team effort and again, we can’t do it alone. So we really need to get the public on board to help us solve these crimes. It has been very important that we push social media and get the community together to help us.”
Proud of accomplishments
Cowell said she is proud of what she has been able to accomplish through the media relations positions.
“I am proud of my reputation,” she said.
“I think over the past five years I have been able to humanize the face of policing. Yes, we were a uniform and police are being criticized across the world right now for the job we do. I think here in Chatham-Kent we have a very good rapport with the citizens of Chatham-Kent and I would like to think that they appreciate the job we do. Through social media we are able to communicate on a more personable level.”
Cowell added: “A lot of times people will contact me through Facebook or Twitter and they have a general question or concern. Now they know they are talking to Renee. Yes, I am an officer but they are talking to Renee and I have been able to humanize the face of policing. To let the citizens know that we are human. Yes, we wear this uniform and sometimes we have to act a certain way, but again at the end of the day we are human and we feel what you feel. I think that is what I am most proud of.”
Cowell also mentioned how proud she is of the Shop With A Cop program held around Christmas time and the Cop Camp, which is held each summer.
*Editor’s note: Watch for a follow-up article featuring comments from Kelly Helbin, the new media relations officer with the Chatham-Kent Police Service.
