Council screenshot
One of the most contentious and debated issues in recent history in Dryden turned a new chapter Monday with Council voting 6-1 to accept the OPP Costing Proposal.
An emotional Council took time to explain their reasoning.
Mayor Greg Wilson says, “This represents an annual operating savings to the City between $1-million and $1.5-million per year after 2024. There will be one seamless service as opposed to the two we currently have which is historically proven to be easier for police to prevent and respond to crimes in town and justifies relocating more police specialists and officers to our community. Combining most, if not all, Dryden Police officers and staff with OPP, makes us stronger as a community, not weaker.”
Norm Bush also talked about the benefits.
“An increase of between 3 and 6 sworn officers patrolling our streets over our current police force. Over a million dollars a year in ongoing cost savings to our municipality starting in year four. Lifting the financial liabilities associated with having our own police force.”
Martin MacKinnon stated, “We have a wonderful police force. Dedicated. They do the best they possibly can with the resources we provide them with. With the coin we provide them with. But we’ve reached a point where we cannot provide them with the resources that they need. We just don’t have the tax base to keep going back and saying we need another two officers this year, we need another three officers this year. Sitting out there is the OPP which has all these resources, and they can get them here pretty darn quick regardless of any argument you put there.”
He adds it’s time for Dryden to move forward and adjust to changing times.
John Carlucci stresses this was not an easy process and not an easy decision, but he was objective, reviewed all the facts, and made a decision that’s best for the community.
Carlucci says the City can’t ignore the high Crime Severity Index rates, which are among the highest in northern Ontario, stating they impact the costs of community policing.
Michelle Price and Dave McKay both stated they poured over all the information in an un-biased manner and stress this is the right decision.
Price stresses this was a gruelling test and all on Council did not take the issue lightly.
Shayne MacKinnon was the only one to vote against the costing proposal, upset and frustrated from the start about the entire process, public consultations, community survey and its impact on current members of DPS.
One of his main concerns is there are too many unknowns with no guarantees on final costs on a year-by-year basis.
“Choosing the OPP estimate today is not about today, it’s about forever. Choosing that one simple estimate will guarantee that we forever lose proactive, community-driven policing. We’ll lose control over our essential policing costs. Create an irreversible police monopoly and suffer the consequences.
MacKinnon went on to say, “We cannot afford that uncertainty and complete loss of control on our policing costs. The OPP proposal does come with an absolute guarantee and that is that Dryden will forever lose its police service. Once a community converts to OPP, they can never go back. This is a forever decision. It’s too costly to start back-up.”
He added, “We have to access the true long-term cost to Dryden. The better decision is to retain Dryden Police Service. Retain Control. Accept the true costs and stop pretending that handing over our community for a non-binding OPP estimate is a good business decision in any way, shape or form.”
MacKinnon cited a recent provincial report when trying to make his case.
“From the last Auditor General’s report on the OPP and it says ‘Over the last five years, the average number of calls for service the OPP has responded to or initiated has remained relatively stable but by contrast, OPP expenditures for municipalities have increased by 27% over the same period. Most of the increase has resulted from hiring of additional officers and staff compensation.”
Dryden Staff Policing Cost Projections and Financial Impacts:
Estimated 2022 costs under an OPP contract: $5,178,171
Forecasted 2022 DPS Operating budget: $4,620,226
Current Dryden Police Operating budget: $3,911,996
One-time start-up costs with switching to OPP between $3.06-million and $3.14-million
That includes:
1. Disbandment costs of an estimated $2,025,285
2. OPP Initial Start-Up Costs (uniforms, equipment, vehicles, etc.) of $710,775
3. OPP facility upgrades between $325,000 and $400,000
Current Police Costs in Dryden
-Dryden has the highest average policing cost per capita of the report’s benchmark municipalities at $511 per capita during the 2015-2019 period.
-Dryden has the highest average per property cost of the OPP benchmark municipalities at approximately $1,040 per property during the 2015-2019
period, approximately 44% higher than Kenora.
To watch the full debate from Monday, visit Dryden Council Page, go to the bottom of the page and hit the video link from the July 26 Council meeting.
