Town seeks Policing Resource Plan from the OPP

Town council has authorized administration to pursue a Policing Resource Plan from the Ontario Provincial Police (OPP).

The plan would cover post-December 31, 2028, when the current five-year term of the contract with the Windsor Police Service expires. The City of Windsor has already announced several weeks ago it would not renew the contract with the Town of Amherstburg.

As part of that motion, town council gave the go-ahead for administration to continue investigating other options. A report from CAO Valerie Critchley outlined the other options, including sticking with Windsor.

Councillor Linden Crain wanted an update on the regional policing model that Amherstburg brought to Essex County council, stating there did not seem to be an appetite for such a plan. Mayor Michael Prue said there wasn’t much support around the county council table when a pair of motions were brought forward.

“I don’t think there is an appetite at county council to go down the road of having OPP staff and one overarching OPP command for the county, which would probably save money,” said Prue.

Prue said there is a report from 1997 that told county council it was the most cost effective way. A report is going before Essex County council April 16 but was unsure what his county colleagues would do with it.

At the April 2 county council meeting, Essex Mayor Sherry Bondy brought forth a motion to direct county administration to provide a cost estimate for engaging a consultant to perform a feasibility study for regional policing meeting. Such a recommendation was before county council for the April 16 meeting, after this issue went to press.

“I won’t remain too optimistic about (the regional option,” said Crain. “Hopefully we can come up with the best solution with the least cost but also provides a level of service.”

“We’re running out of some options here,” said Councillor Peter Courtney.

Courtney added he was “excited” by moving forward with a Policing Resource Plan from the Ontario Provincial Police. He asked what would happen if another solution were to come along and whether the town could move to it earlier than 2028.

“If the OPP came along and the funding seemed a lot better and could save taxation dollars, is it possible to get out of what we have early with what we’ve got with Windsor,” said Courtney.

Critchley said the town is obligated to stick with Windsor through the end of 2028 and the 18-month clause is just for the giving of notice.

In her written report on Monday night’s agenda, Critchley wrote that other options include the regional approach or sticking with Windsor as two of them, with Critchley’s report stating the matter would be brought before Windsor city council at an in-camera meeting April 14. 

“It’s been no secret I wasn’t particularly enamoured of the way the City of Windsor handled this. They sent us a letter saying ‘we want out’ and then after saying ‘we want out,’ and then they said ‘we want to renegotiate. I would have preferred it went the other way,” said Councillor Don McArthur.

McArthur wanted an update how hard Windsor wants to negotiate, noting the in-camera meeting earlier in the day in the city.

“What can you tell us about their appetite to negotiate?” he asked Critchley.

Critchley said it was taken back to Windsor city council with more to be known when the town gets answers back on what the outcome of the April 14 meeting was.

Deputy Mayor Chris Gibb said he found it “a little disconcerting” about how the town was approached.

“It’s almost a situation of they’re not that into us,” he said. “If they wanted to negotiate a better deal, they should have said that.”

The three other options should be further investigated, the deputy mayor added.

Gibb added he doubted a regional service would be able to get together in time.

Investigating a partnership with LaSalle is another possible avenue. Mayor Michael Prue and Critchley met with LaSalle Mayor Crystal Meloche, LaSalle CAO Joe Milicia and police chief Michael Pearce March 5, with Critchley’s report stating the meeting “was congenial and informative with the parties exchanging very preliminary information with respect to service levels, possible governance structures, order of magnitude costs and other potential operational issues. Specifics with respect to these issues will be provided to Council in closed session as they would form the basis for any future negotiations on this matter.”

Re-establishing a standalone service in Amherstburg is also being investigated, with Critchley stating in her written report that “a very informative meeting” was held with the chief and deputy chief of the Strathroy-Caradoc Police Service on annual operating and capital costs, sources of revenue and equipment costs.

“As the financial implications of each possible model will play a role in future negotiations with potential service providers, those details will be presented to Council in closed session while negotiations are ongoing and will be then presented publicly once there are fully negotiated options available for Council to consider,” Critchley wrote in her report.

Town seeks Policing Resource Plan from the OPP

By Ron Giofu