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Lower policing costs for County in 2015

A recently introduced new OPP billing model will result in lower policing costs for Prince Edward County in 2015, while most other Ontario communities will suffer continuing increases for policing costs.

The new billing model for OPP services was developed by the Ontario Ministry of Safety and Correctional Services with input from Ontario’s police services boards and a committee of the Association of Municipalities of Ontario (AMO).

Robert Quaiff, chairman of the County’s police services board, had met with several officials from the Ontario government and from other municipalities at the AMO annual meeting last month. He learned this week under the new formula the County’s OPP costs are expected to decline by 10.6 per cent to $345.47 per household in 2015, from a currently projected $386.50 per household for 2104.

Quaiff cautioned police costs depend on many factors, such as overtime which are not known until year end.

The OPP currently police 324 municipalities and, if current conditions remain unchanged, the County can expect to be among 118 municipalities whose OPP costs per property will be going down under the new billing formula.

Despite rising costs for OPP-contracted policing across Ontario, Quaiff does not support suggestions the County revert to having its own police force.

“If we plan to thrive as a tourism-intensive community we need a professional police force whose budgets and quality of services are well managed,” said Quaiff. “We cannot afford to risk do-it-yourself policing that might result in higher crime rates that discourage tourists.”

Also last month, at an Ottawa meeting chaired by Quaiff, OAPSB’s Eastern Ontario Zone agreed to hold its next regional meeting on Dec. 5 in Prince Edward County. Up to 50 OAPSB members representing Eastern Ontario municipalities, civilians, former correctional services officers and government attend to review the quality and costs of regional policing.

Filed Under: Local News

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  1. Emily says:

    Mr.Bailey doesn’t seem to have a stance on police services or at least not reported on in his bio in this weeks Gazette. What he does state quite shockingly is that he expects answers from workers when he pulls up to a County job site! The County workers do not work for him if he was a Councillor. They have no reason to even know who he is let alone release information. They certainly are not required to answer any of his questions. If he is elected to Council his answers come at the Council table from Department heads. To suggest that workers should be providing answers to his questions at a job site shows a lack of understanding of reporting relationships and is out of touch with appropriate practices.

  2. Mark says:

    I think Wolf makes a good point. I think provincial policing costs were downloaded to municipalities to be paid for through local taxation with the promise that our provincial taxation would be reduced. The selling point was for more local control. (yeah right) We have no local negotiating control and in fact the Province guarantees police wage increases at their pleasure. There is no doubt we are over policed in Prince Edward given the need based upon population and low crime rates.I could go further in regards to the police palace being permitted to be built on Prime agricultural land but that is a whole other story.

  3. KJB says:

    Mr Quaiff does have a point when he says “we need a police force whose budget and quality of service are well managed”…Past performance of our council and admin office has not shown these qualities…..Has anyone else heard of OPP officers that are working 16 hour shifts, I have heard this is common practice, I can’t imagine this being safe for the community or the officers

  4. Wolf Braun says:

    I’d love know which Queen’s Park bureaucrat dreamed up the idea of ‘selling’ OPP services separately to Ontario municipalities. He or she deserves to be recognized and handsomely rewarded for this ingenious idea of ‘paying twice’ for police protection.

    The OPP is the provincial police for which Ontario taxpayers already pay for their services in their provincial tax bill.

    Now, that same provincial police service has been charging municipalities $386.50 per household for some time. They’re lowering that cost to $345.47 PLUS over-time calculated determined at year end for their service !
    Wahoo !

    Does anybody else, or just me, see this as taxpayers getting dinged twice for police services?

  5. MI says:

    In the mayoral race, only one of them have been a part of creating the policies and practices we currently have. I doubt that Robert will change anything. He can only defend everything he has been a part of up to now.

  6. Emily says:

    And Goddard and Boyd have laid out what to do with policing costs? Easy for Goddard to preach from the soap box that policing costs are too high. We know that. They are too high all across Ontario. What is his solution? Still waiting!

  7. Earl Smith says:

    Is Quaiff serious with this gibberish? He has been on PSB for years, has “administered” the run-up in the OPP budget without a whimper, has overseen grotesque overstaffing and unnecessary station construction- and now disingenuously expects the electorate to believe this is all in support of tourism? Does he take us for utter turnips????

    If anyone reading this expects OPP costs to be reduced !1% YOY, I’ve got some prime oceanfront property in Saskatchewan to sell you…

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