Insp. John Periversoff has been appointed head of the Haldimand OPP detachment after serving as the county's top cop on an interim basis this summer.
In a news conference held in Cayuga recently, Periversoff pledged to continue his public outreach efforts and declared that relations between police and citizens angry over the native land claims issue are already warming.
"I am working diligently in this area," he said, adding he has been "reaching out to community members and trying to engage them."
Periversoff, 53, announced he has started an informal committee of county residents to advise him on "how to support some of the healing that has taken place in the community" in recent months.
A 28-year veteran with the OPP, Periversoff said he will also place an emphasis on community policing issues and has already increased foot patrols.
Periversoff himself is known for walking the streets of Caledonia, the site of a bitter land-claims dispute that gained national attention in 2006, and going to Tim Hortons to mingle with the public.
He has also driven on patrol in the middle of the night and met face-to-face with some of the high-profile outspoken critics of the way local police have handled the land claims issue, including Doug Fleming and Gary McHale.
"What you see is what you get with me," Periversoff said. "I'm sincere in everything I do. I share everything I can. At some point, hopefully, you'll begin to trust me."
For the past three years, the county has been torn apart by the land claims issue, with police being accused of not enforcing the law when it comes to natives occupying construction sites or setting up smoke shacks along Highway 6.
Recently, however, the OPP started working with the RCMP in a crack down on illegal cigarette sales taking place from the shacks.
"That's gone over really well," said Haldimand Mayor Marie Trainer, who was at the detachment for the announcement. "People see it as starting to do something.
"John's philosophy of reaching out to the public . . . it's working. John's listening. We've seen improvement."
Dunnville Coun. Lorne Boyko, chair of the Haldimand Police Services Board, said the board was pushing to have Periversoff stay on permanently because of his approach.
"As kids we are told that police are our friends," noted Boyko. "Somewhere along the line, we've lost that."
Periversoff said he will continue to meet with the government negotiator handling the land-claims dispute with nearby Six Nations.
"The issue is not about Caledonia and Six Nations," he said. "It's about Caledonia and Six Nations versus the federal government. We will continue to hammer away at the same message: Federal government, let's get to it."