Barrie Police are hoping to strengthen their relationship with the public during Police Week.

Constable Guy Peters and Constable Kurt Hemington say they’ve seen it all. They get dozens of calls a day and have to be ready for anything.

“We deal with mental health issues, homeless people, thefts and of course the regular types of calls for service,” says Hemington.

The duo work the downtown core and many of them here know them by name.

“They protect the community and they keep us safe and taken care of. It’s good to know we have a friendly police force in Barre,” says Olivia Saunders.

On Sunday, Barrie Police kicked of the beginning of police week to help recognize the work police do and let the community know more about the kinds of services they offer.

A Tactical Unit rappelled down from the roof of City Hall in Barrie on Sunday to hand off the Barrie Police flag that will fly for the entire week.

“We’re here to keep our city safe so this is a way that we can showcase how we keep our city safe,” says Barrie Police Chief Kimberly Greenwood.

But Greenwood knows there is still work to do.

“We have had incidents in the past several years that have looked at the trust our community has but we have strong officers that conduct themselves in a professional manner and you will continue to see that.”

Officers say establishing trust is critical and makes their job easier in the long run.

“Dealing with the public and people who need our assistance – we’ve built a lot of trust them and a lot of them given us valuable information leading to other investigations and because of the interactive discussions we have between them we gain a lot,” says Hemington.

Events for Police Week will continue all week long and the chief says she hopes this will elevate their presence in the community.