DRYDEN, Ont. -- The price tag for the City of Dryden to shift from a municipal police force to the Ontario Provincial Police would cost $5 million in the first year alone.
However, annual costs would likely decrease after that.
Dryden city council were presented the figure on Wednesday night, the result of a May 2017 vote directing administration to look into the possibility of an OPP takeover.
Mayor Greg Wilson wondered where the city, which is trying to pay down a heavy debt load, is going to get the money to make the switch and equates the numbers proposed by the OPP as a moving target.
“Things will change, numbers will change over time and by the end of the three years we will be able to get a really great accurate idea of what that OPP model shift is going to look like, but the problem is you need to model what you think is going to happen for the next three years and then that new costing model, so that is why we need a consultant,” Wilson said.
Wilson added there will be public consultations in the coming months to discuss the proposal.
Included in the $5 million are the costs to renovate the OPP Detachment on Highway 17 as the DPS headquarters on King Street is located too close to a fuel depot and railway tracks, and because of legislation, cannot be used.
Police Services board chair Judi Green said it will take some time to look over the proposal from the board's perspective.
“There is a lot as I said to go through and digest and we need to do some more research and I was grateful to hear some of the suggestions even that the OPP had made but we're well on our way to doing those investigations as well,” Green said.
The OPP in the area would also have to make some adjustments to how it patrols the area, including creating a new deployment zone which consists solely of the city of Dryden.
Scott Silver is the president of Dryden Police Service Association and has patrolled the streets of Dryden for 23 years he says the current police budget sits at $3.9 million and since the city began looking at the costing it has lowered morale and created issues within the department.
“I'm not going to lie it has affected their stress and some of their families and things like that.” Silver said.
“We have very dedicated people that work for us, we like where we work, we the citizens that are our friends and family that we get to protect and we enjoy that.”
Silver said there is also concern over job losses, as there is also no guarantee that DPS officers would be hired by the OPP and cited OPP takeovers in both Espanola and Midland where none of the local officers were hired.
Despite more than 100 members of the public in attendance, no questions from the public were allowed.
The city has six months to make a final decision as to whether or not to remain with the local force or go with the OPP.
If Dryden does make the switch it will leave the Thunder Bay Police Service as the last remaining municipal force in the northwest.
(Northwest Newsweek)
