Cost concerns stall Amherstburg’s push for regional police force

Article content

Amsterburg Mayor Michael Prue’s hopes to explore a regional police force are losing momentum as Essex County Council on Wednesday had little interest in hiring consultants to study its feasibility.

“I want to show us more empathy,” Prue told reporters after Wednesday’s council meeting. “They all said they were glad they were not in this situation, but they didn’t want to take the necessary steps to see the options.”

Article content

It’s only been over a year Amersburg The Council approved a five-year contract renewal with the Windsor Police Department in the second half of 2023, and the city of Windsor recommends that the town want to show up at the end of the current semester.

The town council recently asked its government to examine several other options.

These include meeting with the town of La Salle to discuss potential partnerships or service contracts; studying contract costs with Ontario police; preparing cost estimates for restoring an independent Amherstburg Police Department; and examining the possibility of a regional county police department.

“At the moment we’re going to lower it to two options,” Prue said. “The only option that seems to be feasible is to see if Lasalle is still interested or go to OPP (Ontario Police).”

The county council filed a motion on Wednesday to investigate the viability of the county-wide police department and a regional force that can be involved with optional municipalities.

Article content

But while Prue asked lawmakers to consider the matter as Amherstburg is committed to identifying the future of its policing, council members are concerned about the potential costs of launching their own strength and hiring consultants to study its feasibility.

“I think it’s an important conversation and I’m really frustrated with the situation Amherstburg is in.”

“When I look at the choices in front of us, and when I hear what I say here today, it sounds like no one is even interested in receiving a report.”

Kingsville Mayor Dennis Rogers tried to raise the debate until the next county council meeting was defeated by 10-4.

“The only way we move to regional power is to save money or increase our services,” Rogers said. “I can’t see the scenario where we want to save money.

“You look around and I think there is some satisfaction in terms of service level. If we don’t check these two boxes, it’s not a path I think we have to go.”

Article content

Essex Mayor Sherry Bondy filed notice of motion Have employees provide cost estimate reports to enable consultants to conduct feasibility studies.

Warden Hilda MacDonald joined Bondy in support of her motion to study the cost of hiring a consultant, saying it was an opportunity to explore the matter further.

“I think it’s a good option to see how much it costs,” McDonald said.

Provincial police in Ontario serve municipalities in Kingsville, Essex, Lemington and Tecumsey. Lasalle runs his own police force, which, according to Prue, is the best choice for his potential solution.

“I’ll go with Lasalle,” Pru said. “I think Lasal is a very good police force and I want to see if they are willing to cut our deals instead of leaving us like everyone else.”

Meloch told reporters that Lasalle was willing to have a conversation with Amherstburg, but said the decision was largely dependent on the type of service Amherstburg wanted.

“We can discuss and think about a lot of things, but we may not have any further discussion at this time until we really understand what they want,” Melodge said.

mholmeshill@postmedia.com

Article content