ONTARIO CIVILIAN COMMISSION ON POLICE SERVICES
IN THE MATTER OF an application by the Town of Leamington and Township of Mersea for the amalgamation of their respective Police Services
Presiding Member: Murray W. Chitra, Chair
Appearances:
Dean Gow, Chief, Mersea Township Police Service
John MacKinnon, retired Chief, Leamington Police Service
Robert Schmidt, Mayor, Township of Mersea, Chair, Mersea Township Police Services Board
Dave Wilkinson, Mayor, Town of Leamington
Don Nicholson, Chair, Leamington Police Services Board
Kevin O’Neil, President, Mersea Township Police Association
Allan King, President, Leamington Police Association
Maurice Hodgson, Adviser, Policing Services Division, Ministry of the Solicitor General and Correctional Services
Hearing Date: May 7, 1998
Background:
The Town of Leamington is a well established community located in the southeast corner of Essex County on the shores of Lake Ontario. With a population of approximately 16,500 residents it is the second largest urban area in the County.
For many years policing in the Town has been provided by the Leamington Police Service. Currently the force consists of twenty-six full-time uniformed officers and eight civilian employees.
The Service operates from a police station located at 7 Clark Street West, Leamington. Policing is provided on a 24-hour basis. In addition, dispatching is provided to the Mersea Township Police Service, Kingsville Police Service and Leamington-Mersea Fire Department. The estimated cost to continue this policing arrangement for 1998 is $2,500,190.00 or $151.00 per capita.
The Township of Mersea surrounds the Town of Leamington. Geographically, it forms the largest Township in the County. The total population of this mainly rural area is 9,500.
For policing purposes the Township is divided in two. In the upper half (north of the former Chesapeake and Ohio Railway) policing is provided for approximately 3,000 residents by the Ontario Provincial Police. In the southern half of the Township policing is provided to the remaining 6,500 citizens by the Mersea Township Police Service.
The Mersea Township Police Service is composed of seven full time uniformed officers and one civilian employee. They provide their portion of the Township with 24-hour policing service from a police station located at 38 Erie Street North, Leamington. This facility is less than two blocks from the police station for the Leamington Police Service.
The estimated cost for continuing this arrangement for 1998 is $916,006 or $102 per capita. This takes into account a payment of $299,290 to the Ontario Provincial Police for their services in the northern part of the Township.
The Process:
Over the course of the past few years there has been active discussion about the possibility of providing alternative policing to the Town of Leamington and Township of Mersea.
In July of 1995 the Chiefs of Police of both Services submitted a joint report to their respective police services boards proposing amalgamation. In September of 1995 a Joint Steering Committee was formed to consider the matter. It grew to include representatives from the municipalities of Kingsville, Gosfield South, and Gosfield North.
The Committee however, was adjourned in September of 1996 when a broader review was initiated into the options for county-wide policing. Three county-wide options were presented in August of 1997, but eventually were set aside.
As a result, Leamington and Mersea decided to revisit the idea of a local police amalgamation. This was given added relevance due to the fact that both the Town of Leamington and Township of Mersea are scheduled to become one municipality in early 1999.
A new Steering Committee was created. It consisted of municipal representatives, both chiefs of police, members of both police services boards, and representation from both local police associations. It was supported by an Adviser from Policing Services Division of the Ministry of Solicitor General and Correctional Services. A series of sub-committees were established to study specific aspects of shared policing including scheduling and the collective agreement.
The Committee identified a number of advantages to amalgamation. These included:
stabilized operating costs, reduced capital expenditures and more effective deployment of human resources
efficiencies through consolidation of communications and computer systems, records keeping, clerical, technical and court services, Professional Standards, Freedom of Information, labour relations and police services boards
improved training opportunities, more effective scheduling and deployment of resources, enhanced staff morale and increased capacity to deploy specialized police units, undertake investigations and identify crime patterns using standardized occurrence reporting
Overall, the Committee concluded that an amalgamated service would reduce costs, eliminate duplication and provide an enhanced level of service to citizens of both communities.
A proposal was prepared. Public meetings were held to present the plan to citizens of Leamington and Mersea, respond to questions and receive any comments. The proposal was formally endorsed by the Mersea Township Police Services Board on October 10, 1997. It was also approved by the Leamington Police Services Board on November 19, 1997. Similar resolutions were passed by Leamington Town Council on December 8, 1997 and the Council of the Township of Mersea on February 9, 1998.
The Proposed Amalgamation:
The Committee recommended that the Leamington Police Service and Mersea Township Police Service combine to form a single police force to be known as the Leamington Mersea Police Service.
This new police force would operate on a 24-hour basis out of the current Leamington Police Service building at 7 Clark Street West. It would be responsible for policing all of the Town of Leamington and the Township of Mersea. This would include the northern portion of the Township presently policed by the Ontario Provincial Police.
Currently, the Leamington Police Services Board has five members and the Mersea Township Police Services Board has three. It is proposed that a joint board composed of five members be established under section 33(5) of the Police Services Act R.S.O. 1990, c. P.15, as amended.
The assets of the existing services would be held in trust for the new Leamington Mersea Police Services Board. Any liabilities as of the date of amalgamation would remain the responsibility of the respective municipality.
The proposed 1998 budget of the amalgamated Service would be $3,285,012 or $126 per capita. This represents a savings of $181,473. The costs would be paid 72.1% by the Town of Leamington and 27.9% by the Township of Mersea. The Town of Leamington would be responsible for the financial administration of the arrangement and would receive a $200 a month payment from the Township as compensation.
Future budgets would be prepared by the new Board and submitted annually to both councils until such time as municipal consolidation took place.
The amalgamated service would be composed of all members of both existing Services plus two additional officers. Essentially this would mean thirty-five full-time uniformed officers and nine civilian employees for a total of forty-four personnel.
The Chief of Police would be Dean Gow of the Mersea Township Police Service. There would be one Deputy Chief and Inspector, four Sergeants and twenty eight constables. Five of the civilian personnel would be assigned to dispatch duties and the remaining four would perform clerical and secretarial functions.
Officers would be deployed using a zone patrol system based on ten hour shifts. A total of twenty-three patrol constables would perform these duties under the supervision of four shift sergeants. Four patrol zones are proposed. Two additional officers would form a Criminal Investigation Bureau, one would be responsible for Crime Prevention and Community Services, one would act as Station Officer and one, with the assistance of a secretary, would serve as Court Officer.
Currently, the officer/population ratio for the Town of Leamington is 1/650 and for the Township is 1/939. For the proposed amalgamated service it would be 1/743. The officer/crime ratio for the Town of Leamington is 1/69 and for the Township 1/79. For the proposed amalgamated service the estimated officer/crime ratio would be 1/71.
Dispatching for the new service would essentially remain the same. The new service would continue to provide 24-hour dispatching and respond to 911 emergency calls. However, in order to ensure proper radio coverage in the northern part of the Township, an upgrade to mobile and portable radios will be required. Such an upgrade will be completed prior to amalgamation.
The new service would have a total of 9 vehicles. This would include five marked patrol cars and 1 marked van.
Finally, both the Leamington and Mersea Township Police Associations have recently renegotiated their collective agreements with their respective boards. The terms of these agreements mirror each other so that they can easily convert into one contract.
Decision:
Section 4(1) of the Police Services Act imposes on municipalities the obligation to provide “adequate and effective police services in accordance with its needs”. This would include both the Town of Leamington and Township of Mersea.
This requirement can be met in a number of different ways. A municipality may establish its own police force, share services with another community, or enter into an agreement with the Ontario Provincial Police.
Section 6 of the Act provides that two or more municipalities that have police forces may enter into an arrangement to amalgamate them.
The formal means of such an amalgamation is an agreement or contract. According to section 6(2) of the Act, such an agreement must deal with:
a) the establishment and, subject to section 33, the composition of a joint board for the amalgamated police force;
b) the amalgamation of the police forces and the appointment or transfer of their members;
c) the joint board’s use of the assets and its responsibility for the liabilities associated with the police forces;
d) the budgeting of the cost for the operation of the amalgamated police force;
e) any other matter that is necessary or advisable to effect the amalgamation.
Section 6(3) of the Act provides that an agreement “does not take effect until the Commission has approved the organization of the amalgamated police force”.
In order to grant such approval, the Commission must be satisfied on two questions. The first, is that the proposed amalgamation will allow for adequate and effective policing in the communities affected. The second is that the proposed agreement deals with the essential elements set out in section 6(2).
The proposal being made to the Commission makes excellent sense for a number of reasons.
First, while there may be historical explanations for the current policing arrangements, they are clearly not an efficient use of resources. By this I refer to the fact that three separate police forces are serving different parts of what amounts to the same community. Further, two of these police forces operate out of police stations within a few hundred yards of each other. At times, this must be confusing for both local citizens and visitors to the area.
Second, in early 1999 the Town of Leamington and the Township of Mersea are to be consolidated into one municipality. It makes sense that policing in the new municipality be provided by one police service reporting to a unified police services board.
At a practical level, the proposed amalgamation itself would appear to be both well considered and thorough. The police station at 7 Clark Street West is both large and modern. Indeed, it contains its own court room. It should be more than adequate to contain the staff of both Services. The current well established dispatch system, which presently serves both forces, will continue with some enhancements to the mobile and portable radios.
Combining the existing staff of the two Services will allow for the consolidation of some functions (i.e. court officers) and a reduction of management. As a practical matter this will mean a number of additional officers will be available for front line policing in addition to the two that are to be hired.
The arrangement should provide many citizens with an enhanced level of policing coverage. Overall, the number of officers proposed would appear to be acceptable for the population, crime rate and mixed rural and urban nature of this community. Comparable municipal police services can be found in both Stratford and Owen Sound.
Both Chief Gow of the Mersea Police Service and retired Chief John MacKinnon of the Leamington Police Service clearly indicate that based on their many years of policing experience in these communities, they are satisfied that the proposed arrangement will allow for adequate and effective police services. This view is supported by Mr. Maurice Hodgson, Adviser, Policing Services Division, Ministry of Solicitor General and Correctional Services.
As well, is also evident that the proposed amalgamation has public support. This was reflected in submissions made by Mayor Robert Schmidt of the Township of Mersea, Mayor Dave Wilkinson of the Town of Leamington and Mr. Don Nicholson, Chair of the Leamington Police Services Board.
In addition, letters of support for the proposed amalgamation were provided by the Leamington & District Chamber of Commerce, Roman Catholic Children’s Aid Society for the County of Essex, Leamington Lions Club, Point Pelee National Park, Reid Funeral Home Ltd., Leamington District Secondary School, Mersea Township Police Association, Dunnion & Dunmore (Federal Prosecutors for the Leamington Court), Sun Parlour Emergency Services Inc., Leamington District Memorial Hospital and Mike Pearce Chevrolet Oldsmobile Cadillac Ltd.
Overall, based on the material provided to me and the submissions received, I am satisfied that the proposed amalgamation will permit adequate and effective policing in both communities. I find the proposal to be eminently sensible, worthwhile, practical and likely to offer significant advantages to both Leamington and Mersea.
I have also had an opportunity to review the proposed amalgamation agreement which has been approved and endorsed by both municipal councils. I find the agreement to be fundamentally sound and to meet all the requirements of section 6(2) of the Act.
Accordingly, pursuant to section 6(3) of the Police Services Act I approve the amalgamations of the Police Services of the Town of Leamington and Township of Mersea.
This will be effective July 1, 1998.
DATED THIS 27TH DAY OF MAY 1998.
Murray W. Chitra Chair, OCCPS