A veteran Chatham-Kent police officer is excited for her new role as the department’s primary spokesperson.
Const. Kelly Helbin, who is originally from Wallaceburg, has taken over for Const. Renee Cowell, who is originally from Dresden, as the public information officer for the Chatham-Kent Police Service.
Helbin told the Sydenham Current she is looking forward to engaging with the public in a more positive manner.
“The thing I loved the most about working in community patrol is getting out there and dealing with the public. However, it is usually in a negative way going to calls, we are reactive for the most part.”
“Engaging with the public in a more positive way is what I am looking forward to most, because I am small town. You go into Wallaceburg as a police officer, man you can get bombarded by people coming up to you and just talking to you. I like that. Sometimes people would have something to complain about, and you would have to look into things but that’s what I enjoy most about a small town. However, as a police officer you are mostly dealing with the public in a negative way as a front-line officer.”
Helbin said she is honoured to have this position.
“This is a step in the right direction for me after being on the street for 13 years,” she said.
“It is something different, something to enhance my career ultimately. So when I do go back to the street I still have a long time left. Everything makes us a better police officer when we go back on the road because we appreciate the different spots and we are more aware of the different resources that are out there.”
Helbin said maintaining the CKPS’s social media presence and communication will be one of her focuses.
“Probably five years ago social media wasn’t what it is today,” she said.
“Thanks to Renee that she has maintained that and brought us up to speed as a police service. To maintain, it is going to be easier. As we go along, what else new is going to come up with all the social media. I look forward to some of those challenges too.”
13 years in policing
Helbin said she has been a police officer for 13 years, after getting her start with the London City Police, where she spent the first five years of her career.
“I enjoyed London, I enjoyed the people,” she said.
“I thought to myself after having a few years under my belt, if the opportunity ever came up to come back home, my family is here from Wallaceburg. Small town girl, through and through. The opportunity came so five years into my career I knew that Chatham was hiring so I came back home and handed in a resume. I was fortunate to then get hired on as an experienced officer.”
She has been with the Chatham-Kent Police Service since and is going into her eighth year with the CKPS.
“I have been in uniform patrol the whole time,” she said.
“So I have been a street cop other than working at the court house when I was pregnant so I was on light duties. They had me over at the court house helping out Constable Jennifer Jacobson with the domestic violence position there, which was a great experience.”
Helbin said whenever you go into a specialized division, you appreciate other peoples jobs a lot more when you step into them.
“I didn’t know what they did at the court house,” she said.
“I worked that for five months and then you realize. That kind of opens up more doors. Working at the court house you get familiar with the crown attorneys, the JPs (Justice of the Peace), the victim witness program. You just put faces to names and you learn that part of the job. As a street cop, you don’t really understand. You hand in your paperwork and you don’t really know what happens until you are called to court. So that gave me more of a behind the scenes look. I was there until maternity leave with my son.”
She has worked all over the Municipality as well.
“When I first started, I was out Thamesville, Ridgetown and Blenheim way. Blenheim specifically for a longer period. They would also have me covering in Chatham on occasion. Than I was sent to Tilbury for a couple of years and then once returning from my mat leave I was in Wallaceburg for three years. Then in January 2016, they brought me into Chatham. I have worked everywhere in the Municipality, which I have liked.”
Helbin said moving all around allowed her to meet more on her colleagues working for the CKPS.
“You get to go on different calls with different co-workers,” she said.
“So even a person who is working out in Wallaceburg may never really do a call with someone who is working out in Tilbury. unless you are called into different areas. I enjoyed being able to work in a lot of different areas.”
Happy to work with senior officers
Helbin said she is looking forward to working more closely with upper management.
“I am up here now in the same hallway with them so I will be communicating with them more regularly,” she said.
“Getting to know them maybe more on a personal level, which we really don’t being a street officer. It is busy. You work those 12-hour shifts and you get to have a great relationship with your Sergeants, but other than that it’s not a real personal relationship with anyone else. You know you are part of a team, but I am looking forward to that.”
Here is our interview with Const. Cowell as well: Challenges and triumphs as the CKPS media officer
– Photo credit: Aaron Hall
