By Sylene Argent, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, Essex Free Press
Members of the recently merged Essex County OPP Detachment Board-North (Lakeshore, Essex, Tecumseh) held their second meeting on Tuesday, October 15. The amalgamated Board’s first official meeting wash held April 22.
Though initially, it was intended to host meetings every other month, meetings were suspended temporarily until the Indemnity Insurance was reviewed and resolved by the province.
Digging into the August statistics, members of the Essex County OPP Detachment Board-North learned there was a 91% increase in impaired/over 80 offences in OPP policed areas.
For August 2024 there were 21 instances, compared to August 2023 where there were 11 and only 9 in August of 2022. Of the August 2024 instances, three were in Essex.
“Over this long [Thanksgiving] weekend we had six impaireds, which is very scary, to be honest,” Acting Inspector Jamie Smith told members of the Board. Those statistics will be included in the overview for October to be presented at a future meeting. “We have been fortunate, I think, just by sheer luck that there haven’t been any fatalities thus far, but I think our luck will run out eventually, if we don’t get this under control,” Smith said.
“It keeps our officers very busy on the weekends. [It] ties up two officers at a minimum to do this. Sometimes it does take more with the towing of the vehicle, relaying the prisoner, the breath tests that are done.”
Also in August, Officers responded to 3,694 calls in OPP policed areas, a three-percent decrease in Calls for Service compared to August 2023. Of that, 536 were in Essex. In all area OPP policed communities, he added there was a 7.4% decrease in Violent Crime in August 2024, compared to August 2023. There was a clearance rate of 82%.
In speaking to the mental health calls made in August, Smith said he believes the four response units are making an impact through completing proactive work. Across the locally OPP policed communities, there were 104 such calls, which was a 28% decrease, comparing August 2024 to August 2023. Of the calls, 23 were in Essex.
In answering Essex County OPP Service Board-North Chairperson Paul Sweet’s question on provincial support for the Mental Health Response Team, Smith noted he believes current funding is good until April 2025. He noted that even if the funding does not continue, an agreement with the hospitals has been made to continue the teams. It is hoped to obtain the grant for the programming again, however.
Smith added that the Youth Mobile Crisis Response Team (YMCRT) responded to 28 calls in August 2024 and 221 calls year-to-date.
Lakeshore Mayor Tracey Bailey would like to see a breakdown of those calls provided with future reports to determine which municipalities the Youth Mobile Crisis Response Teams respond to for calls. She said there is a lot of community work being done to address gaps in service delivery for youth mental health needs. It may be helpful to see where calls are coming from to cohort that data together.
Smith noted that can be done.
The report was received. Also during the meeting, the Board adopted two policies to ensure a respectful and safe work environment, in addition to being harassment and violence free.
Karen Robertson, Provincial Appointment, Marc Gomes, Provincial Appointment, and John Quennell, Community Representative for the Municipality of Lakeshore, all took the Oath of Office. All other members did so at the June meeting.
Under the Community Policing Safety Act, the Board is required to complete an annual report by June 30th each year for the member municipalities on the activities of the board and the service. With the hiatus, due to the province-wide insurance delay, the alternative delivered a report to the member municipalities in order for the Board to meet its legislative requirements. All three municipal Councils received those reports.
Council for the Town of Essex approved the proposed budget for the balance of 2024 for the Essex County OPP Detachment Board-North back in July. Each member municipality had to approve it, and the Board approved it last week.
The Board’s 2024 Budget was calculated to be $70,113, split evenly between Lakeshore, Essex, and Tecumseh. The Town of Tecumseh is administering the board. Actual costs to administer it will be recovered by Essex, Tecumseh, and Lakeshore, equally.
The annualized budget is expected to be $101,000 for 2025. Each member municipality should expect their 2025 PSB budget to come in around $34,000. Actual 2025 draft Board budget may vary as it will be prepared by the Board during the budget cycle and presented to each Council for approval during budget deliberations.
Essex Mayor Sherry Bondy asked if this Board is more expensive than the previous model, where each municipality had its own. She believes the amalgamation of the boards was a cost-savings measure, but does not think it is.
Tecumseh CAO Margaret Misek Evans noted the budget in 2024 for Tecumseh was $42,990, Essex was $26,955, and Lakeshore was $28,524. For the 2024 operating year, the municipalities remained within those budgets. She suspects there will be a slight increase for the annualized budget in cost for Essex and Lakeshore, with a bit of a decrease for Tecumseh.
Essex CAO Doug Sweet noted that since inception, the Board has been referred to as Essex County OPP Board-North or Essex County OPP Board #1. The Board can be renamed, following requirements. It was recommended to name it Essex County OPP Detachment Board – L.E.T. (Lakeshore, Essex, Tecumseh).
Members, however, had the option to come up with another name or keep it status quo. The Board decided on Essex County OPP Detachment Board – North (Lakeshore, Essex, Tecumseh), some voicing concern with acronyms and how individuals can negatively play on acronyms on social media.
Looking ahead, the Board’s 2025 Budget meeting will take place on Monday, November 4, at 3pm. The next regular meeting will be Monday, December 9 at 10am. Both will take place at Tecumseh Town Hall or can be viewed via livestream.
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