Policing options dwindling as joining with LaSalle not likely

After meetings with LaSalle officials, including the LaSalle Chief of Police, Amherstburg will have to consider another option instead of joining with LaSalle.

More information is anticipated to come before the public in the new year on the future of policing in Amherstburg, but options appear to be getting fewer.

The latest option that looks to be going by the boards is a partnership with the Town of LaSalle. Amherstburg Mayor Michael Prue told the public, as part of the report out from an earlier in-camera meeting, that LaSalle has cited numerous factors as to why they don’t feel they can be a partner at this time.

Prue said those factors include cost, staff resources, and a lack of adequate time to get things ready for the end of 2028. Regarding the latter, that would include the hiring and training of new officers, with training costs being paid while Amherstburg is still paying Windsor for policing.

Meetings were held with the mayor, CAO and police chief of LaSalle, Prue said, but they have indicated they can’t make a partnership work at the present time.

“They dealt with us very fairly and very nicely,” said Prue.

Prue told reporters after the meeting that the most recent meeting with LaSalle officials was in November and they informed Amherstburg they would not be able to accommodate Amherstburg with policing services.

“It just became very difficult,” he said of the factors that led to the decision.

Despite that, Prue said the LaSalle option and the Windsor option will still be in a report that will be issued publicly early in the new year, likely in February. The Windsor option saw the city look for an increase in fees, Prue said, but that option went off the rails when Windsor balked at the town’s request to have a voting member on the Windsor Police Services Board (WPSB).

“That was the end for me, and I think for council,” said Prue.

Those options will still go to the public, he added, as he added the town wants to show where they are at on the issue and how they got there.

The Ontario Provincial Police (OPP) and re-starting the Amherstburg Police Service are still on the table, he added. Prue said they can’t wait much longer than February to start moving on the issue, as 2026 is a municipal election year and the contract with Windsor is up at the end of 2028.

In order to keep the available options on the table, the town has to move early in 2026, he said. Public consultation will be had, with the public able to delegate on the report.

The town had previously tried to get a regional service with other municipalities in Essex County, and Prue said there is a county report which supports such a service. Despite presenting that earlier this year, there was no appetite at the county level to go that route and municipalities opted to stay with their own policing options.

“I couldn’t get any support,” he said. “To this day, I can’t understand why.”

Cost will be a big factor when it comes to policing as will the ability to set up a service, Prue added, and he stated he is willing to hear all opinions on the subject.

“I will listen to every word,” he said.

By Ron Giofu