Part 1: Rising OPP Costs, Community Safety Planning, and Policing Updates - 11/21/2024
- PECConnect
- Nov 21, 2024
- 4 min read
The O.P.P. Detachment Board meeting opened with quorum confirmed and the meeting formally called to order. The session was held as a hybrid meeting and live streamed for the public. The agenda and previous meeting minutes were approved without issue, allowing the board to move quickly into its main business.
The overall focus of the meeting was policing costs, transparency, community safety planning, and local policing priorities, with several detailed presentations and extended board discussion.
View the entire PEC Council meeting, or continue to speaker comments and councillor votes.
How O.P.P. Policing Is Delivered and Paid For
The largest portion of the meeting was dedicated to a detailed presentation explaining how O.P.P. policing works and how municipalities are billed. Board members were walked through the dual role of the O.P.P., which includes both municipal policing and provincial responsibilities.
The presenters explained that municipalities only pay for municipal policing, not provincial services such as highways, aircraft searches, emergency response teams, or major investigations. Billing is split into three parts: base services, calls for service, and other costs such as overtime or court security.
Base services are charged as a flat per property rate, while calls for service are billed using standardized time averages across Ontario. This system is designed to prevent municipalities from being overcharged when multiple officers attend a single call.
Why Policing Costs Are Increasing
A major topic of discussion was the sharp increase in policing costs for 2025. The board heard that a significant portion of the increase is tied to the retroactive O.P.P. collective agreement, which replaced the earlier 1 percent wage cap under Bill 124.
Because wage increases were applied retroactively to 2023 and 2024, municipalities are now seeing a cost compression effect, where multiple years of adjustments appear in one billing cycle. Board members expressed concern about how this affects local budgeting and whether the province might offer relief.
The presenters confirmed that municipalities across Ontario are raising similar concerns and that discussions are happening at the provincial level, but no formal relief plan had been announced at the time of the meeting.
Community Safety and Well Being Planning
The board received a detailed update on the Community Safety and Well Being Plan, which focuses on prevention rather than emergency response. The current plan prioritizes poverty reduction, housing and homelessness, seniors support, mental health and substance use, and intimate partner violence.
Staff explained that the plan has transitioned from volunteer-led coordination to municipal staff leadership, which is intended to improve continuity and long-term capacity. Community partners continue to play a major role through action teams working on specific risk areas.
The board discussed the importance of showing residents that this work delivers value, especially at a time when taxpayers are concerned about rising costs and government size.
Domestic Violence and Abuse Prevention
Another major presentation focused on the role of the Detachment Abuse Issues Investigator, a position recently reintroduced across Ontario. The investigator described work focused on intimate partner violence, seniors abuse, child abuse, and human trafficking, with an emphasis on follow-up, victim safety, and coordination with local agencies.
The board heard that this role helps bridge the gap between police response and community supports, often leading to victims coming forward when they previously were not ready.
Local Policing Updates
The detachment commander’s report highlighted low break and enter numbers, rising mental health related calls, and strong use of mobile crisis response workers. Traffic enforcement was temporarily reduced due to technical issues with radar equipment, while impaired driving remained a concern heading into the festive season.
The board also discussed victim services referrals, noting gradual improvement in acceptance rates over time.
Governance and Compliance Matters
The meeting addressed new requirements under the Community Safety and Policing Act, including mandatory reporting, board meeting frequency, and governance responsibilities. To ensure compliance, the board agreed to schedule an additional virtual meeting before the end of 2024. The meeting closed with administrative items, recognition of an officer’s retirement, and confirmation of future meeting dates.
Disclaimer: This article is based on a meeting with an approximate duration of 2:15:27. Due to the length of the meeting, our team was not able to independently review the full recording in its entirety. As a result, we relied on software-generated transcription, automated summarization, and automated recognition of speakers and participants, which may not be entirely accurate. All transcriptions, summaries, and related content are prepared by our team in good faith and on a reasonable best-efforts basis. The content is provided for general informational purposes only and is intended to support public understanding of the topics discussed. While reasonable efforts have been made to present the information accurately, automated processes may result in errors, omissions, or unintended misinterpretations. This article does not constitute an official, certified, or verbatim record of the meeting, and it should not be relied upon as such. Readers are encouraged to consult original source materials, official minutes, or recordings where available for confirmation or clarification. Questions, requests for clarification, or suggested corrections may be submitted to hello@pecconnect.ca for review and consideration.
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