Essex County OPP Board-North hears 91% increase in impaired offences, comparing August ‘24 to ‘23

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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