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Kincardine faces $200,000 increase in
policing costs |
Kincardine Council
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Paul Holmes The South Bruce OPP does a good job of policing the
Municipality of Kincardine but it comes at a price, and that
cost is expected to increase by $200,000 this year. He outlined the history of the OPP in Kincardine, noting it covered Wards 2 and 3 (former Kincardine Township and Bruce Township) for many years, and took over policing in the former Town of Kincardine (Ward 1) in 1994. At that time it replaced the Kincardine Police Service, he said. Two members of the town police service are still working with the OPP: sergeant Dave Quinn and constable Darryl Campbell. The current contract between the OPP/Ontario Ministry of Community Safety and Correctional Services, and the municipality expires on May 2, 2009, said Holmes, pointing out that the contracts are normally renewed for five-year periods. The South Bruce OPP mainly investigates motor vehicle collisions, domestic assaults, assaults, mischief, deaths and other incidents and situations relating to drug substances (alcohol and other illicit drugs), in Kincardine, Holmes said. "Generally, we have a consistent number of occurrences that are investigated each year in the municipality, which is in the neighbourhood of 3,700. I do not anticipate any changes with the number of front-line officers required." That number sits at 16.72 full-time equivalent officers, with 0.026 of a staff sergeant's position to be added to the contract as a result of the detachment manager's position being established at the South Bruce detachment (as at all detachments with more than 60 uniform members), said Holmes. 25/01/2009 11:42 AM
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Salaries for officers include overtime and other direct operating expenses, he said. These expenses have increased significantly during the past five years and to date, the municipality has enjoyed the benefits of being on a 2003 formula due to the five-year contract, said Holmes. The figure for other direct operating expenses (based on the 2003 formula) was $20,413 per officer; the 2008 cost was $29,454 per officer, he said. These cover such things as cruiser expenses, repairs and fuel;
telecommunications; accommodation; and prisoner costs. In the 2009
contract, they will represent an increase of $151,165.52 for the 16.72
officers, said Holmes. This comes to a grand total of $195,686.66 or a 9.68-per-cent increase, said Holmes. "I will not support any salary increase, given the economic situation," said councillor Gordon Campbell. "I'm not optimistic about the way things are going." "If people don't have jobs, do they no longer need police to provide a safe community?" asked councillor Kenneth Craig. "Unfortunately, when people lose their jobs and have no money, there is more pressure on families, leading to an increase in such incidents as domestic assault and impaired driving. I would think we need an increase in policing and additional resources." "There are a lot of things we can do without in this municipality but policing is not one of them," agreed councillor Mike Leggett. In answer to a question from Craig, Holmes said that other municipalities pay a fee for service because they have no contract with the OPP. However, Kincardine has a contract, and receives a guaranteed level of service. He added that the government built a new state-of-the-art OPP detachment building in Kincardine which is a huge asset for the delivery of police service. As to the contract, Holmes said the goal is to have an agreement worked out between the Municipality of Kincardine and the OPP, signed off by the ministry, before May, 2009. In response to a question, he said the South Bruce OPP policing cost is cheaper, per capita, than any municipal police force in the area.
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