MAYOR ADAMS DEFENDS COMMENTS ON OPP COSTS

[Thomas]

Orangeville Mayor Rob Adams has been taken to task for recent statements regarding Ontario Provincial Police costs and the force’s alleged contract negotiating tactics.

Much ballyhoo was made regarding the Town soliciting an OPP costing report. The topic was broached during finance and administration council committee meetings to nail down a final draft of the town’s 2014 capital and operating budgets.

A contentious point during budget debate was the size of the Orangeville Police Service budget. Some councillors felt it would be fair to taxpayers to seek the OPP costing report. Some residents also lobbied council in favour of the move.

The costing report would be an estimate from the provincial force that would detail what the OPP feels the municipality’s policing needs are and how much the OPP will charge to service those needs.

Mayor Adams, who sits on the OPS Board, was quoted in the Jan. 23 edition of The Citizen as saying he supported any means to save taxpayers money. But he maintained throughout that he was in favour of keeping the town’s police force if possible.

Contending that bringing in the OPP would ultimately lead to higher policing costs, Mayor Adams said the OPP typically low-balls its first cost estimate to get the contract, only to inflate the price in subsequent deals.

In a letter dated Feb. 16 to the mayor and council, Meaford resident Steven Starr asked Mayor Adams to back up his assertion.

“Why would you and your council initiate this costing only to turn around and publicly question the integrity of the Ontario Provincial Police by suggesting they lowball its initial contracts?” Mr. Starr said in the letter. “That is a serious allegation and I certainly hope you have done an adequate examination of the case(s) you’re speaking of before you went public with such a statement.”

Regarding the mayor’s suggestion that the OPP costs tend to skyrocket in subsequent contracts, Mr. Starr said he’s noticed policing costs have risen across Canada. He said he recently had reason to investigate, as issues surrounding policing costs had arisen in Meaford.

“I have found that policing costs in Canada have risen everywhere, spiking from $7.3 billion in 2001 to $12.9 billion in 2011 before levelling off,” the letter reads.

However, he said, a 2012 auditor general report found that rising OPP costs were indeed concerning, but the provincial force provides policing to municipalities on average 35 per cent to 60 per cent lower in cost than municipalities with their own services. According to cost-comparison data provided by the OPP, municipalities Orangeville’s size paid on average 47 per cent less for OPP policing.

“If you find that your information is incorrect, I trust you will do the right thing and set the record straight because, if you don’t, your statement will be accepted as fact,” Mr. Starr wrote. “After all, why would a mayor say that without first ensuring that it is based in fact?

“What was the source of the data you have to suggest skyrocketing OPP prices which, of course, in fairness would have to be compared to comparable municipal services?”

Mayor Adams told The Citizen he appreciates Mr. Starr’s acknowledgement that policing costs have risen across the country. But he maintains he did not question the integrity of the OPP through his comments about negotiating contracts.

“My main point was that they (the OPP) provide a different level of service in a rural setting,” Mayor Adams said. A case in point: For simultaneous incidents in different parts of Orangeville that require a police response, OPP from outside the town will need to be dispatched. That means a response delay for one incident, the mayor has said.

Regarding Mr. Starr’s allegation that he had impugned the OPP’s integrity, the mayor said he was merely speaking about a well-documented trend. He cited an April 6, 2013, Toronto Sun article about Brockville’s considering whether to keep its local force or bring in the OPP.

The article indicated many small towns across Canada bring in provincial police forces as a short-cut to ease an immediate financial strain. But they suffer in the long term, the mayor said. As many as eight Ontario municipalities that turfed their police forces for the OPP faced increases of 78.8 per cent between 2006 and 2011, he said.

“We need to proceed cautiously about this,” said Mayor Adams, and added that he’s looking forward to receiving the OPP’s costing report.

“I’m open to all alternatives that provide a level of service at a reasonable cost that residents expect,” he said. “We have to be open to all options and any info that helps us come to the right decision on policing for our residents.”

http://www.citizen.on.ca/news/2014-02-2 ... costs.html