ONTARIO CIVILIAN COMMISSION ON POLICE SERVICES
IN THE MATTER OF an application by the Town of Collingwood for consent to the abolition of the Town Police Force
Presiding Members: Murray W. Chitra, Chair Sam Cancilla, Member
Appearances: Bob Smith, Chair, Collingwood Police Services Board Harry deWolde, Sergeant, Ontario Provincial Police Kenneth Robb, Chief, Collingwood Police Service Marilyn Emmerson, President, Collingwood Senior Officers Association John Trude, President, Collingwood Police Association Terry Spencer, Citizen
Hearing Date: Tuesday, June 10, 1997
Background:
The Town of Collingwood is located at the intersections of Highways 26 and 24 in Simcoe County at the south end of Georgian Bay. Its current population is 14,673 residents. For 139 years policing in this community has been provided by a local town police force.
At the present time the force consists of a uniformed complement of 23 individuals. This includes a chief, a superintendent, an inspector, 4 sergeants and 16 constables. As well, there is an auxiliary unit with a complement of 10 volunteer members.
The service employs 13 full-time and 4 part-time civilian staff. The full-time employees include 3 special constables, 5 communicators, 2 records clerks, a janitor, a senior manager and an executive secretary. The part-time staff include a janitor, 2 communicators and an administrative assistant.
The Collingwood Police Service provides 24 hours a day, seven days a week coverage to its community from a recently expanded facility at the corners of Ontario and Minnesota Streets.
In early 1995 both the Town Council and Police Services Board requested the Ontario Provincial Police provide a costing for that force to assume the policing duties of the Collingwood Police Service. This was motivated by concerns about controlling expenditures in the face of community growth.
This process commenced in July of 1995. It consisted of a workload and financial analysis, provincial comparative analysis, and interviews with municipal residents involved in local business, community service and politics. As well, two public meetings were held.
After much discussion and debate on February 10, 1997 Town Council passed a resolution accepting in principle an OPP proposal for an "integrated detachment" and expressed a willingness to negotiate an appropriate contract. A similar resolution was passed by the Collingwood Police Services Board the following day.
Both resolutions were formally received by the Commission in early March and tabled at the regularly scheduled monthly meeting on March 10, 1997. At that time, it was agreed that a public meeting would be held in Collingwood to formally review the proposal.
After consulting with interested parties it was agreed that the meeting would take place on June 10th. Notice was published in six local papers.
The Law:
Policing in Ontario is governed by the provisions of the Police Services Act, R.S.O. 1990, c. P. 15 as amended. Section 4 of the Act imposes upon municipalities the requirement to provide "adequate and effective police services in accordance with its needs". This obligation applies to the Town of Collingwood.
Section 5 of the Act makes it clear that the requirement can be met in one of three ways. A municipality may choose to establish and maintain its own police service, enter into a joint policing arrangement with another community, or contract for policing services from the Ontario Provincial Police. The choice rests with the municipality.
However, once a municipal police service has been established, it can only be abolished for the purposes of putting in place one of the other policing options, after following the procedures set out in the Act. Specifically, section 40 provides:
40(1) A Board may terminate the employment of a member of the police force for the purpose of abolishing the police force or reducing its size if the Commission consents and if the abolition or reduction does not contravene this Act.
(2) The Commission shall consent to the termination of the employment of a member of a police force under subsection (1) only if,
(a) the member and the board have made an agreement dealing with severance pay or agreed to submit the matter to arbitration; or
(b) the Commission has made an order under subsection (3); or
(3) If the member and the board do not make an agreement dealing with severance pay and do not agree to submit the matter to arbitration, the Commission, if it is of the opinion that it would be appropriate to permit the abolition of the police service or the reduction of its size, may order the member and the board to submit the matter to arbitration and give the necessary directions in that connection.
In the context of this section, the term "board" refers to the local police services board which has the responsibility for the governance of the local police service. The term "Commission" refers to the Ontario Civilian Commission on Police Services.
If the Commission is of the view that these requirements have been met, then it may authorize a municipality to enter into negotiations with the Solicitor General under section 10 of the Act for policing services to be provided by the Ontario Provincial Police.
The Issue:
The nature of this scheme is self-evident. It is to ensure that no municipal police force is abolished unless arrangements are in place which will satisfactorily meet the policing needs of the community in question. Further, it is to ensure that no members of a municipal police force are terminated without steps being taken to ensure proper severance will be provided.
Accordingly, the purpose of this proceeding is two-fold.
First, the Commission is to receive and review the proposal which has been accepted by Council and the Collingwood Police Services Board. We are to consider any public comments and submissions of interested parties on the question of whether or not the proposal will satisfy the municipality's obligation to provide "adequate and effective police services".
Assuming we are satisfied that the proposal provides for such service, then our second obligation is to determine whether or not a member is to be terminated as a consequence of abolition. If this is the case, and the parties have reached an agreement with respect to severance or consent to have any outstanding matters referred to arbitration - the matter ends there. If such agreement has not been reached then the Commission may order the parties to arbitration and provide the necessary direction.
That being said, it is worth noting that given the wording of the Act there are a number of matters beyond the Commission's purview. It is not our role to judge the relative merits of municipal versus OPP contract policing in a particular community or the potential of any proposal to save or increase policing costs. These are matters for City Council and the Board to assess. It is not our function to judge whether or not what is being proposed is superior to what may already be in place or some other alternative. Our focus is to determine whether the arrangements being proposed meet the requirement of the Act. Finally, it is not our function to determine what constitutes an appropriate severance arrangement. That is a matter for bargaining between the parties and, in the absence of agreement, for arbitration.
The Proposal:
The proposed policing arrangement was described to us in detail by Sergeant Harry deWolde, Analyst, First Nations and Contract Policing Bureau, OPP.
Essentially, what is being advanced is the creation of an "integrated" detachment which would amalgamate the policing resources for both Collingwood and Osprey Townships. In practice this would mean the establishment of an Ontario Provincial Police office at the current Collingwood Police Services building. This facility will be provided by the municipality to the Ontario Provincial Police at no cost. Similarly, the Town agrees to undertake any necessary alterations and to ensure that the facility is properly furnished, equipped and maintained.
The proposed detachment would have a total complement of 38 uniformed officers and 3 support staff. The current three special constables would continue their court security and community services duties. An auxiliary program will be continued.
The integrated detachment would be managed by a Staff Sergeant. Four Sergeants will be responsible for platoons composed of 7 to 8 officers. These platoons would patrol in specific zones. As well, it is proposed that a joint marine initiative be established with the Huronia West OPP detachment to provide appropriate water coverage. Similarly, a joint criminal investigation unit is planned.
Of the total complement of the proposed detachment, a number of staff would be dedicated exclusively to policing the Town of Collingwood. This would include 18 constables and 2 clerical support staff. As well, .57 of the Staff Sergeants' time and the efforts of 2.28 of the Sergeants would be allocated to Town policing.
Overall, the plan promises the Town of Collingwood a minimum of 30,358 hours of uniformed policing services per annum. This would be available 24 hours a day, seven days a week. If, for some reason, officers dedicated to providing Town policing were not available, then calls for service would be responded to by other officers working out of the detachment.
Starting in October, emergency calls would be handled through the use of a 911 service. All dispatching would be done through the OPP telecommunications centre in Barrie. The Ontario Provincial Police will provide and install both telephone to the police facility and radio equipment for police vehicles. A separate communications system is being considered for the purpose of bicycle and foot patrols. OMPACC will continue to be used to record activities and prepare Incident Reports.
We are advised that all 23 uniformed officers of the present Collingwood Police Service will be offered employment with the Ontario Provincial Police in accordance with normal practice. As well, the two records clerks will become civilian employees of the OPP.
The current communication staff of the Service (5 full-time and 2 part-time) have been offered employment by the municipality. They shall perform dispatching duties for the local fire service. When not otherwise occupied, their services will be available to the detachment to provide OMPACC entry using a digital dictaphone system.
The current janitorial staff have also been offered employment with the municipality. As well, as noted above the three special constables will continue to provide court security and community services function.
Three members of the Service will be terminated. These include the senior manager, executive secretary and part-time administrative assistant. All have signed severance agreements with the board.
The only matter that appears to be outstanding is the question of possible retroactive wages flowing from 1996 contract negotiations. All parties have agreed to have this matter resolved by way of arbitration.
Decision:
It seems clear to us that what is being proposed will provide the Town of Collingwood with a level of policing service which is at least equivalent to that which it currently enjoys.
While it is evident that the management structure will be flattened, the actual number of "front line" officers will not change. Further, they will be operating out of their recently upgraded building with the support and backup of 15 additional OPP constables. As a practical matter, we do not see why these 33 officers and the 3 civilian employees cannot be effectively managed by one Staff Sergeant and 4 Sergeants.
It is proposed that dispatching will take place from Barrie rather than locally. This is the norm for municipal and provincial policing in many parts of Ontario. To our mind, the measure of "adequacy" is not where such a service is based, but how well it is organized and managed.
We also note, that the OPP proposes to continue the use of auxiliary officers in the Town. While such members are not permitted to perform normal policing duties except in special circumstances or emergencies, it is our experience that both a community and police service can benefit greatly from the thoughtful use of such resources.
Overall, it is our view that what is being proposed would allow for adequate and effective policing in the Town of Collingwood. We reach this conclusion based on the retention of the "front line" uniform complement, the backup capacity inherent in an integrated detachment of the proposed size and location, the continued deployment of auxiliaries in the community, the retention of the upgraded and centrally located police station, the number of proposed supervisory staff and the communications experience of the Ontario Provincial Police. As well, we are supported in our belief by the fact that there was only one adverse comment received at our public meeting to the proposed arrangement.
This leaves the question of termination and severance. As noted earlier those employees who will be terminated have signed severance agreements. Further the board and various associations have agreed to refer any outstanding matters to arbitration. That being the case, no further inquiry is called for on our part.
Accordingly, the Commission hereby consents to the abolition of the Collingwood Police Service in order that policing may be provided by means of a contract with the Solicitor General for the services of the Ontario Provincial Police.
DATED THIS 8TH DAY OF JULY 1997.
Murray W. Chitra Chair, OCCPS