Putting the cuffs on OPP 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?

Putting the cuffs on OPP costs

Postby Thomas » Mon Aug 18, 2014 4:18 pm

With a new OPP billing model now selected, the province needs to shift its focus to bringing outrageous and unsustainable policing costs in this province under control.

After months of what it says was consultation with affected municipalities, the Liberal government unveiled its new billing formula last week, which will come into effect in 2015.

While not as dire as the worst-case scenario would have been, the news for Haliburton County is still resoundingly bad, with its total collective police bill set to double from $3.3 to some $6.5 million during the next five years.

There are going to be some austere years ahead for this community and local politicians will be tasked with finding the money while trying to mitigate the financial burden on residents.

OPP costs have been skyrocketing for years and the culprit is the parity clause – “me too” clause, “leapfrog” clause, whatever you want to call it – built into OPP contracts with the province.

It guarantees that OPP officers be paid at a rate equivalent to the highest paid force in the province.

This practice must cease if policing costs are to become sustainable and fair to taxpayers.

The Liberals have given the OPP Association (the force’s union) way too much sway and it must be reined in.

When Community Safety and Correctional Services Minister Yasir Naqvi was asked about removing the clause during last week’s announcement, he said he would leave this up to the negotiating team.

This is not acceptable. The clause must come out. Anything less is more than irresponsible. It’s reckless.

Eighty-five per cent of OPP costs are comprised of salaries, benefits and overtime.

I’ll repeat that.

Eighty-five per cent of OPP costs are comprised of salaries, benefits and overtime.

The average first-class constable, a position achievable within three years of being on the force, makes more than $90,000 per annum.

This is outrageous and Ontarians can’t afford the benchmarking that has existed to continue.

And OPP officers received an 8.55 per cent pay increase this year.

If the province is serious about making policing costs sustainable, it needs to first freeze OPP wages indefinitely.

Then, it needs to give each municipality a seat at the bargaining table for its local OPP contract.

A township’s ability to pay must be taken into consideration.

So must the demographics and crime rates of individual communities.

Officers in Haliburton County, a small, poor community with a relatively low crime rate, shouldn’t be getting paid at the same rate as officers in larger, more affluent or dangerous municipalities. This is only logical.

Last year, 10 of the 29 officers at the local OPP detachment were on the province’s “sunshine list.” That was before the 8.55 per cent pay hike this year. This in a community with almost no serious crime where many families stitch together income with minimum wage and seasonal work and struggle to keep food on the table.

It’s wrong.

The province says it’s adhering to recommendations from a 2012 auditor general’s report on OPP costs, but it’s certainly not adhering to all of them.

That report recommended eliminating 12-hour shifts to substantially reduce overtime costs.

This should be happening.

Also, crime rates continue to drop while OPP costs continue to climb.

The OPP shouldn’t be setting its own staffing levels. There’s too much opportunity to cloak self-interest in the guise of public safety needs. Municipal councils should assess and set OPP staffing levels. That way, staff reduction can be achieved through attrition to bring OPP bills down to more manageable levels.

Naqvi keeps calling the new billing model “fair, equitable and transparent.” OPP billing will never be fair until “me too” clauses are removed from contracts and new practices are adopted to ensure sustainability over time.

OPP bills shouldn’t be destroying communities its officers are supposed to protect.

By Chad Ingram

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