Take down

County considers changes to OPP services contract

The County is leaving no stone unturned in the quest for finding ways to cut costs, and police services are no exception.

Councillor and Police Services Board Chair Robert Quaiff, along with Mayor Peter Mertens, will visit the city of Kawartha Lakes to learn about a system of policing that municipality is using, a non-contracted OPP service.

Under the provincial Police Services Act municipalities are required to offer police services in their communities. There are several options. One is to have a municipal force, like there is in Belleville.

Another is to have a contract, known as a “section 10” after that section of the act, with the Ontario Provincial Police. A police services board must be created by the municipality in this case to determine what services the OPP provides, which can include any type of law enforcement, including bylaws.

That’s what the County has today.

In this case, once the terms of a contract are written to determine how many officers are needed, what services they provides to the municipality and factors like population and area are considered, the OPP general headquarters in Orillia provides the municipality with a cost estimate for which it can budget.

That estimate has been slowly rising here. In 2010 it was $4.3 million. In 2012, the estimate is $4.9 million.

At nearly 10 per cent of the County’s entire estimated $51 million operating budget for 2012, it’s a considerable issue for the municipality.

Kawartha Lakes has decided to engage the OPP on a non-contracted or pay-as-you-go basis. Similarly, Council may choose to make a similar arrangement with the OPP, but it would lose the ability to influence the services through a police services board.

The municipality would lose control over what services are provided, like community outreach currently provided by the Prince Edward detachment of the OPP.

“We would just get bill at the end of the year,” explained Quaiff.

He fears the County might lose the benefit of shared OPP resources that help smooth out the cost of major police activities between juridictions. He worries too, that the municipality might forfeit the seven additional officers the province pays for due to the additional policing requirements of the provincial parks.

Quaiff isn’t convinced switching will save this community money. Incidents throughout 2011 that were covered by OPP contract would have cost significantly more on a pay-as-you-go basis.

“I think you’re going on a whim and a prayer,” said Quaiff. “You need to be awfully cautious and careful what you wish for.”

Nevertheless Quaiff says he will monitor results in Kawartha Lakes.

“It is critical that we look at every possibility to reduce these costs,” said Quaiff.