Getting creative with police 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?

Getting creative with police costs

Postby Thomas » Wed Feb 12, 2014 11:02 am

Many municipalities in the province are staring down the barrel of unsustainable policing costs and by working together they should be able to come up with a solution.

“Hundreds of Ontario municipalities are concerned, and frustrated, with efforts to improve the fairness and transparency of the OPP’s billing model,” Russ Powers, president of the Association of Ontario Municipalities, wrote in a letter received by Haliburton County councilors last week.

It’s no wonder these local governments are feeling concerned and frustrated.

The OPP sets its own staffing needs and negotiates salaries directly with the province and a new funding formula set to come into effect in 2015 would see policing costs take a meteoric jump in many municipalities, including the county.

Combined, the four townships that comprise Haliburton County would see an increase of more than $3 million next year.

To accommodate the $1.6 million increase Dysart et al would see, the township would have to increase property taxes by some 35 per cent.

The cost of policing would rise from about $350,000 to $800,000.

What is being asked of these small, cash-strapped townships is a financial impossibility.

The OPP is doing an excellent job of demonstrating how unsustainable its force is, with officers receiving an 8.55 per cent increase this year.

A first-class constable, a position attainable in three years on the job, makes more than $90,000 a year.

The AMO has assembled a steering committee to deal with the problem, one that the county has requested a seat on and, by the time this edition is published, will hopefully have obtained.

The AMO should do one of two things, both of which mean approaching Queen’s Park for legislative change.

One: Lobby the provincial government to create a new framework for OPP costing, one that gives local governments negotiating power and input on staffing needs.

These townships know what they can afford and frankly, officers who work in small communities, where instances of serious crime are generally lower, shouldn't be making the same amount of money as officers who work in larger communities where instances of serious crime are generally higher.

Two: The affected municipalities – there are hundreds, remember – bind together, ditch the OPP and create something new.

They could pool their resources to construct a province-wide, economically viable alternative to the OPP, pressuring the province to kick in for start-up expenses.

And this is a prime year to pressure the province, with an election likely.

The current government has done a terrible job of keeping policing costs reasonable, setting a stage ripe for political opportunism.

The opposition parties would do well to make mitigating these costs part of their platforms, by either reining in the OPP or fostering the creation of a sustainable alternative.

The solution to the problem with policing bills ultimately rests with the provincial legislature, but starts with the AMO.

http://www.mindentimes.ca/2014/02/12/ge ... lice-costs
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