Peterborough townships eyeing increases to policing costs

Obscenely high and unsustainable policing costs. OPP bills are destroying communities its officers are supposed to protect. Apparent self-interest is cloaked in the guise of public safety needs. Where is the political outrage while OPP costs continue to climb? Who is going to bring policing costs in this province under control?

Peterborough townships eyeing increases to policing costs

Postby Thomas » Wed Jan 29, 2014 6:33 am

Peterborough townships eyeing significant increases to policing costs

Proposal would see townships pay far more to have OPP police its territory

PETERBOROUGH COUNTY -- Potential double-digit increases to policing costs has many Peterborough County officials worried.

As the OPP looks to rein in costs across the province and create new formula for billing, the proposal would see a significant hikes in prices for police services in local townships.

Barry Rand, deputy mayor for North Kawartha Township, says his municipality is facing a potential increase from a current $160 per household to $369 per household.

"We will see our policing costs double for no reason," he says.

North Kawartha has calculated it would see its police budget go from $653,000 a year to more than $1.4 million a year. That would result in 16-per-cent property tax increase.

He and other municipal leaders are planning on lobbying government ministers at the upcoming Rural Ontario Municipal Association meeting on Feb. 23 and 24 in Toronto.

READ MORE: 'Kawartha Lakes Mayor Warns Of Higher OPP Costs': http://www.mykawartha.com/news-story/4266335-mayor-warns-of-impact-of-higher-costs-of-opp-service/

Last week, local MPP and minister of rural affairs Jeff Leal addressed the issue at Peterborough County Council meeting.

Minister Leal requested that the police service boards for local townships gather cost-containment ideas that he would forward to the Ministry of Community Safety and Correctional Services.

That ministry began a review of how the OPP bills municipalities for services back in May of 2013. The review came after more urban municipalities raised concerns about rising policing costs.

For 2014, OPP billing will remain as is -- basically charging townships for the amount of time officers spend policing their municipalities -- but a change proposed for 2015 will transform costs for many townships.

Deputy Mayor Rand says urban municipalities want costs tied to a township's population, a view he believes is an inaccurate reflection of a police service. As an example, he says a community such as Bancroft will have higher policing costs than North Kawartha Township simply because Bancroft has a far more urban setting.

He explains that by simply taking the total costs of policing a municipality and dividing it by the number of residences, or households, is an inaccurate picture of a community's policing needs. Bancroft, for example, has a number of businesses that may add to the policing burden. North Kawartha, he explains, has a high number of seasonal residents who may not require policing services all year long.

"The current policing bills are based on how much time an officer spends in our community," he says.

"By focusing (on the number of) residences it implies that all costs, and all revenue, are due to (just) residents."

Currently, North Kawartha is paying to have an officer in the township 15 hours a day, seven days a week. He notes that with the proposed changes to billing, that would remain the same even though costs would likely double.

Deputy Mayor Rand notes that locally the OPP and Peterborough-Lakefield police have worked with communities to tackle the root causes of crime, in particular drug use and mental health.

The Peterborough Drug Strategy, developed through consultation with community agencies and the two police services, has worked at addressing those two issues, he explains.

"In Peterborough, we have done some excellent work," he says.

He add the local OPP detachment also has an efficient operation and works well with neighbouring police services.

Each of the eight townships in the county policed by the OPP have a police services board. The chairs of each board also meet to co-ordinate efforts.

The work of the council of chairs of the eight police services is currently handling the lead locally to lobby Minister Leal and the Ministry to call off the review until a report comes from the Future of Policing Advisory Committee. That committee, established in 2012, is examining the future of policing and will provide recommendations for moving ahead.

http://www.mykawartha.com/news-story/43 ... ing-costs/
Thomas, Administrator

User avatar
Thomas
Site Admin
 
Posts: 2562
Joined: Sun Mar 25, 2012 5:18 pm
Location: Canada

Return to Unsustainable Policing Costs

Who is online

Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 18 guests

cron