Emergency services in Windsor and Essex County want to make sure newcomers to the area know they are there to help.
Representatives from Windsor police, OPP, Windsor Fire and Rescue Services, EMS, LaSalle police, and Amherstburg police took part in an "open air display" to interact with immigrants and show them the services available to them.
Windsor police Chief Al Frederick says they want to make sure there is no fear in approaching emergency services.
"A lot of the newcomers to Canada come from cultures where police are not trusted. We want to break that barrier immediately. They need to know that here in Canada all emergency services are here for them," says Frederick.
The display was done in partnership with the Multicultural Council, which provided translators in many languages to help the first responders communicate with the newcomers.
Frederick says it's important to establish trust as soon as possible.
"We need them to police our communities as much as they need us. Not only when they are victims but when they are witnesses to a crime or to behaviour that's not appropriate. It's a mutual agreement between us and the community that we work together," says Frederick.
