ONTARIO CIVILIAN COMMISSION ON POLICE SERVICES
IN THE MATTER OF an application for consent to the abolishment of the polices services of the Towns of Fergus, Harriston and Palmerston
Presiding Members:
Murray W. Chitra, Chair
Barbara Morland Wellard, Member
G. Douglas Smith, Member
Appearances:
Scott Wilson, Secretary, Wellington County Police Services Board
Rob Gilbert, Vice Chair, Wellington County Police Services Board
Barbara Tocher, Member, Wellington County Police Services Board
Ron Faulkner, Chief, Harriston Police Service
Eric Knudsen, Chief, Palmerston Police Service
Richard Rooke, President, Fergus Police Association
Juanita Draper, President, Harriston Police Association
Henry Heidinga, President, Palmerston Police Association
Murray Langdon, Chair, Wellington County Police Services Board
Paul Powers, Staff Sergeant, Ontario Provincial Police
C. F. (Bud) Brennan, Advisor, Policing Services Division, Ministry of the Solicitor
General and Correctional Services
Clarke Melville, Member, Wellington County Police Services Board
Derek Green, Citizen
Hearing Date: April 22, 1999
This is an application by the County of Wellington (the “County”) pursuant to section 40 of the Police Services Act, R.S.O. 1990, c. P.15 as amended (the “Act”) for consent to the abolishment of the Fergus Police Service, Harriston Police Service and Palmerston Police Service. This is for the purpose of having all policing in the County provided by the Ontario Provincial Police (the “OPP”).
Background:
The County is located in south central Ontario. Excluding the City of Guelph, it is composed of seven local municipalities occupying 263,138 hectares (993 square miles) with a 1999 population of 63,500. This is a relatively sparse 64 persons per square mile.
The area is primarily rural and agricultural with a number of small towns and villages that are currently experiencing residential expansion in response to a demand from families relocating from large neighboring urban centres. It is predicted that the population of the County will reach 100,000 by the year 2020.
For many years law enforcement in the County has been provided by the OPP and three municipal police services. Specifically, the Towns of Fergus, Harriston, and Palmerston are policed by their own police forces. The Town of Mount Forest receives its policing under a contract with the OPP approved by this Commission on January 29,
- The balance of the County is policed by the OPP without the benefit of any formal agreement.
In early 1998 significant amendments were made to the Act. One change was a requirement that all municipalities assume the cost of their own policing. Prior to this change only Fergus, Harriston, Palmerston and Mount Forest paid the cost of their policing from municipal revenues.
In anticipation of this and other changes, the County retained the services of two experienced municipal consultants to consider restructuring alternatives. They tabled their report on September 18, 1997. It contained 31 recommendations. Two related to policing.
One recommendation was that there be a single police force for the County. The second was that the County police services board be established.
A County Review Committee and Warden’s Advisory Committee examined ways to implement these recommendations. A series of public consultations took place in Guelph, Arthur and Fergus between March 3 and 5, 1998. Based on the Committees’ recommendations the County requested an OPP costing. This was concluded on July
13, 1998. Two options were proposed.
On September 24, 1998 County Council voted to assume control over all local policing. To assert this jurisdiction, a bylaw was passed on September 30, 1998 pursuant to section 209.4 (2) of the Municipal Act, R.S.O. 1990, c. M.45 as amended.
This is the so-called “triple majority” provision which permits an upper tier municipality to assume a local power if it is able to obtain:
a majority of all votes of the upper tier council; and
the consent of the majority of councils of the affected local municipalities; and
the local councils whose consent constitute a majority of the electors of the upper tier municipality.
As well, it agreed to accept one of the proposed OPP options with a total annual cost of
$8,073,561.
The “triple majority” requirement was met by mid-October. This had the effect of causing the municipal police services boards of the Towns of Fergus, Harriston and Palmerston to cease to exist. As a result, on October 29, 1998 County Council passed a further resolution calling for the creation of a five person Wellington County Police Services Board (the “Board”). A quorum was in place by December 9, 1998 when the new Board passed a resolution calling for acceptance of the OPP proposal and disbandment of the three municipal services. Copies of these resolutions were forwarded to the Ontario Civilian Commission on Police Services (the “Commission”).
Over the course of the next three months the Board was actively involved in working towards this goal. This included making decisions with respect to the location of new facilities, negotiating with the various local police associations and chiefs, setting budgets and establishing procedural bylaws. As well, during the month of January, they conducted seven public meetings in Fergus, Harriston, Puslinch, Eramosa, Arthur, Erin and Mapleton to present the OPP proposal and receive public comment.
On February 8, 1999 the various resolutions of the Council and Board were tabled at the Commission’s regularly scheduled monthly meeting. It was agreed that a public meeting under section 40 of the Act would be convened to consider the proposal. It was subsequently scheduled for April 22, 1999 at the Wellington Community Centre, 550
Belsyde Avenue East, Fergus. Notice of this fact was published in a number of local newspapers.
The meeting took place as scheduled. A total of fourteen individuals either made presentations or made submissions. As well, we received written material and various documents in support of the positions taken.
The Law:
Policing in Ontario is governed by the provisions of the Act.
Section 4(1) of the Act imposes upon municipalities the obligation to provide “adequate and effective police services in accordance with its needs”. This may be accomplished in a number of different ways. A municipality may establish and maintain its own police force, enter into a joint policing arrangement with another municipality, or contract for policing services from the OPP.
For a police service to be “adequate and effective” it must have the necessary staff, administration, equipment, infrastructure and facilities to perform certain functions. According to section 4(2) of the Act these include crime prevention, law enforcement, assistance to victims of crime, public order maintenance, and emergency response.
Once a municipal police force has been established, it can only be abolished for the purpose of putting in place one of the other policing options (i.e. OPP contract policing) after following the procedures set out in the Act. Specifically, section 40 provides that:
40(1) A board may terminate the employment of a member of the police force for the purpose of abolishing the police force … if the Commission consents and if the abolition … 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).
(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 force … may order the board to submit the matter to arbitration and give any necessary direction in that connection.
If the Commission is of the view that these requirements have been met, then a municipality may enter into a contract with the Solicitor General under section 10 of the Act for policing to be provided by the OPP.
The Issues:
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. Any new arrangement must provide for appropriate staff, equipment and facilities to ensure adequate and effective policing. As well, no member of a municipal police force is to be terminated without steps being taken to allow for proper severance.
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 Board. We are to consider any public comments and submissions.
Second, assuming we are satisfied that the proposal allows for “adequate and effective police services”, then our next 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 - then the matter ends there. If such agreement has not been reached then the Commission may order the parties to arbitration.
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 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 requirements 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 Current Arrangement:
As noted earlier, the County is presently policed by three municipal police forces and the Ontario Provincial Police.
The Town of Fergus has had its own police service since 1874. The current police forces consists of a chief, three sergeants, eight constables (one working part time), and two part time clerical staff. They provide their community with 24 hour service from a police station located at 695 St. David Street North. It has no cells. Prisoners are held at the Wellington Detention Centre. Dispatch is provided under an agreement with the Guelph Police Service.
The 1997 population of Fergus was 8,008. Accordingly, the uniformed officer to population ratio was approximately 1:696. The 1996 cost of policing per household was
$300.
The Town of Palmerston has had its own police service since 1875. The current police force consists of a chief, five constables (one working part time) and two auxiliary members. They provide their community with 20 hours policing per day from a police facility located at 250 Daly Street. It has two police cells. Dispatch is provided under agreement with the South Bruce Grey Police Service.
The 1997 population of Palmerston was 2,400. Thus, the uniformed officer to population ratio is approximately 1:436. The 1996 cost of policing per household was $382.
The Town of Harriston has had its own police service since 1878. Presently, it consists of a chief, four constables and one auxiliary member. They also provide 20 hour policing per day from a facility located at 68 Elora Street South. Dispatch is provided under contract by the South Bruce Grey Police Service. The cells at the OPP Mount Forest detachment are used to detain any prisoners.
The 1997 population of Harriston was 1,900. Therefore, the uniformed officer to population ratio was approximately 1:380. The 1996 cost of policing per household was
$357.
The OPP police the balance of the County. This arrangement dates from the late
1920’s. Currently, the dedicated OPP municipal complement consists of 53 constables (four of these positions are required under the existing Mount Forest contract), the equivalent of 6.56 sergeants, 1.35 staff sergeants, 12 part time contract guards and
4.24 clerical workers. They provide 24 hour policing from detachments located in Guelph and Mount Forest and a series of community policing offices throughout the region.
Dispatch is provided from the OPP Communications Centre in Mount Forest.
The population of the balance of the County is approximately 51,192. Accordingly, the ratio of dedicated OPP uniformed municipal officers to population is 1:840. The estimated 1996 cost of policing per household was $263.
The current combined dedicated municipal policing resources of all four services for the
County is as follows:
3 chiefs
1.35 staff sergeants
9.56 sergeants
69 full time constables (converting the part time positions)
5.74 clerical staff
Overall, there are 82.91 uniformed officers policing a total population of 63,500. This represents an overall uniformed officer to population ratio of 1:766.
The Proposal:
The proposed policing arrangement was described to us in detail by Staff Sergeant Paul Powers. This can be best set out under the general headings of staffing, facilitates and deployment, communications, equipment and transition.
A) Staffing:
Essentially, what is being advanced is an amalgamation of existing municipal and OPP local resources. In practice this would mean deployment of 102 uniformed officers, 15 contract guards and 11 civilian employees. As well, a local auxiliary program with 15 volunteers is planned.
Of this total complement, 84.2 officers would be dedicated exclusively to municipal policing concerns in the County. The balance of 17.8 would be employed to deal with matters of a provincial nature. This would include the policing of provincial highways and navigable waterways. The constables and civilian employees would be supervised by an inspector, one staff sergeant and eleven sergeants.
Specifically, this would include:
.82 inspector
.82 staff sergeant
9.56 sergeants
73 constables
5.74 clerical support
3.28 cleaners
Overall, this represents 84.20 dedicated uniformed municipal officers in the County. This would represent an officer to citizen ratio of 1:754.
The proposed arrangement would represent a reduction in municipal policing administration (.82 of an inspector and .82 of a staff sergeant from 1.35 staff sergeants and three chiefs) and an increase in constable strength (69 to 73). The dedicated municipal clerical support and middle management level would remain unchanged.
All current uniformed staff with the Fergus, Palmerston, and Harriston Police Services have been offered employment with the OPP. The same applies to civilian members.
The number of contract guards would be increased from 12 to 15. The current shared prisoner escort arrangement with Guelph Police Service will be continued. We are also advised that four additional part time dispatchers (32 hours per week) will be added to the Mount Forest Communications Unit.
As well, the integrated detachment would have access to OPP personnel performing a range of specialized functions. These would include emergency services, criminal investigations and investigative support.
B) Facilities and Deployment:
It is proposed that the amalgamated municipal and provincial resources be deployed from four operational centres. As well, they would have access to 11 community policing offices.
The operations centres would be located in Palmerston, Fergus, Guelph and Mount Forest. They would be open to members of the public during normal business hours. During the evening members of the public could use a dedicated telephone to contact officers on duty. The community policing offices would be in Fergus, Harriston, Maryborough, Clifford, Drayton, Mount Forest, Arthur, Elora, Rockwood/Eramosa, Erin, and Puslinch.
Operations Centres
The Palmerston Operations Centre would be located at 250 Daly Street in a 9,500 square foot building which has served as a municipal office and is the existing Palmerston Police Service station.
The building has been purchased by the County of Wellington at the cost of $227,500. It is currently undergoing renovations valued at $184.823.24 which are expected to be completed by mid July. It will have two cells. We have been provided with architect’s drawings, building permits and the construction contract for this facility.
It is proposed that 15 staff operate from this building. This would include a dedicated sergeant, 15 constables and a civilian clerk. These officers would be responsible for a patrol zone which would consist of the Town of Minto.
Four constables would be on duty each shift. One would patrol in Palmerston, one would patrol Harriston and two officers would patrol the rural portion of the Town. During evening hours the rural patrol constables would operate as a two-member patrol unit.
The Fergus Operations Centre would be located at 321 St. Andrew Street. This is a
5,700 square foot building which was recently purchased by the County for $250,000. It is in the process of undergoing renovations valued at $410,630.69 which are expected
to be completed by mid July. We have been provided with architect’s drawings, building permits and the construction contract for this facility.
This building will serve two purposes. First, it will be the County Administrative Headquarters. These offices will consist of one inspector, a staff sergeant, a community services constable and three clerical support staff.
The second function will be operational. The building will house 26 staff dedicated to this purpose. These include 20 patrol constables, two detective constables, two school unit constables, a dedicated sergeant and one clerical worker. It will have three cells (one serving as a secure Young Offender unit).
The patrol officers will be assigned to three patrol zones within Centre Wellington. Each shift will consist of five patrol constables. Two patrol constables will operate in the Town of Fergus, one in Elora and two in the rural area. During evening hours the rural constables would operate as a two-member patrol unit.
The Mount Forest Operations Centre will be located at the existing OPP Detachment building at 630 Main Street North. It would accommodate 29 staff. This would include 14 patrol constables, two detective constables, one court officer, four team leader sergeants, one dedicated sergeant and one clerical worker. As well, it would house six constables deployed exclusively on provincial concerns. It currently has three cells which require renovation.
This Operations Centre would service three patrol zones. Four officers would be assigned to each shift. One patrol constable would operate in the Town of Mount Forest, one in Wellington North, and one in the Town of Mapleton. The fourth patrol officer would operate in all three zones.
In the evening the four officers would operate in two member patrol units. One unit would patrol the Town of Mapleton and the Village of Arthur. The second unit would patrol Mount Forest and the surrounding rural area.
The Guelph Operations Centre would be located at the existing OPP Detachment building at 218 Bristol Street North. It would accommodate 33 staff. This would include
14 patrol constables, two detective constables, two court officers, four team leader sergeants and one clerical worker. As well, it would house nine provincial constables and a provincial crime stoppers officer. It currently has two cells which require renovation.
The dedicated municipal staff would be allocated to three patrol zones. Each shift would have four patrol constables. One patrol constable would operate in the Town of Erin, one in Puslinch Township and one in Guelph-Ermosa. The fourth constable would patrol all three zones.
In the evening the four officers would operate in two member patrol units. One unit would patrol Erin and the northern portion of Guelph-Ermosa Township. The second would patrol the remaining portion of Guelph-Ermosa and Puslinch Townships.
Overall, it would appear that at any time 17 patrol constables would be operating throughout the County. While they would normally work an assigned zone, they would be available to move to other areas where required. As well, it would appear that generally two sergeants would be on duty at any time to provide supervision and direction. They would be backed up by the 24 hour duty sergeant at the Mount Forest Communications Unit.
Community Policing Offices
Officers on duty will have access to 11 Community Policing Offices. Essentially, these are locations for officers to write reports, conduct interviews and hold meetings.
The proposed offices would be as follows:
Fergus – To be located at the Administrative and Operations Centre at
321 St. Andrew Street in Room 103. The office is approximately 100 square feet and will have a telephone and an OMPPAC (Ontario Municipal and Provincial Police Automated Cooperative) terminal. It will also be used by the County of Wellington Victim Assistance and Referral Service (VICARS).
Harriston – To be located at the current Harriston Police Service Headquarters at 68 Elora Street South. The facility is approximately 700 square feet. The office will have a telephone line and computer.
Maryborough – To be located at the Maryborough Fire Service building on Hilwood Drive in Moorefield. The 100 square foot office has a computer and telephone.
Clifford – To be located on Elora Street in Clifford. The 400 square foot office will contain both a telephone and a computer.
Drayton – To be located in a shared facility with the Drayton Fire Service at 12 Main Street. The 100 square foot office will have a computer and telephone.
Mount Forest – To be located in a 700 square foot facility at 110 Main Street. Three offices will be equipped with a telephone and computer. Space is set aside for VICARS and a Job-Bank machine.
Arthur – To be located in a shared facility with the Arthur and area Fire Service on Smith Street. The 100 square foot office will have a telephone and computer.
Elora – To be located at 135 Metcalfe Street. The 400 square foot office will have a telephone and computer.
Rockwood/Eramosa – To be located in a shared facility at the Guelph – Eramosa Township Fire Hall at 175 Alma Street in Rockwood. The 100 square foot office will have a telephone and computer.
Erin – To be located at 109 Main Street. Two offices totaling 200 square feet will have telephone and computer. This facility will be shared with the East Wellington Advisory Group and a senior’s drop-in centre.
Puslinch – To be located in a shared facility with the Puslinch Fire Service at 7404 County Road # 34 in Aberfoyle. The 100 square foot office will have a telephone and computer.
All offices will be identified by appropriate signs and equipped with necessary furniture. Janitorial services would be the responsibility of local municipalities.
C) Communications:
Communications and dispatch services for the County would be provided 24 hours per day, 365 days a year from the Western Region Telecommunications Centre located in Mount Forest.
Citizens would be able to contact the police either by using an enhanced 911 service for emergencies or a free general 1-888 access number for other matters. Local administration lines will be maintained in Fergus and Palmerston. Cell phone callers will be able to call * (star) OPP. TDD service would be available for the hearing impaired. A public education campaign is planned to advise residents of this change.
The Centre in Mount Forest is currently staffed by twenty four full-time and two part-time dispatchers. As noted earlier, it is proposed that four more be recruited to deal with the increased volume of calls from Fergus, Mount Forest and Palmerston. They are supervised by six sergeants and one staff sergeant. At least one sergeant is always on duty.
The telecommunications system itself is composed of a series of linked towers. There are tactical, simplex and provincial common channels. All radio and telephone
communications are logger recorded. The Centre has an independent emergency power supply.
An in-car repeater system will be used in conjunction with portable radios which will extend the range of the car radio system for officers who are away from their vehicle. Overall, this will permit communications from: dispatch to car, car to dispatch, car to car, and office to car. As well, there is the capacity for both phone patch and line patch.
We are advised that the communications system covers the complete County with no
“dead” zones which would impair officer safety.
D) Equipment:
Officers would be provided with the necessary uniforms. All would be issued with Sig
Sauer 40 Calibre pistols.
A total of 24 marked cruisers and 5 unmarked vehicles would be allocated to municipal policing matters. In addition to the OPP crest, the marked cruisers will have “County of Wellington” identification. Four snowmobiles will be maintained for winter duties and one boat is assigned to the County for marine duties on local waterways.
Other equipment to be provided includes:
1 Intoxilyzer
2 Borkenstein breathalyzers
7 Alcotesters
8 radar units
4 spike belts
All offices would be provided with the necessary furniture.
At the present time the Fergus Police Service uses the “PRIDE” records management system. The Palmerston and Harriston Police Services and the OPP use OMPPAC (Ontario Municipal and Provincial Police Automation Cooperative). All offices would be converted to OMPPAC. Initial incidents would be entered into the system by Mount Forest Communications staff. Training would be provided for any new staff unfamiliar with the system.
All officers would have access to CPIC (Canadian Police Information Centre) and PLAS (Police Legal Access System). The latter is a data base on legislation and case law available through the OPP intranet.
It is proposed that all Fergus, Palmerston and Harriston files be transferred to the OPP. All administrative and operational records would be coordinated and kept in accordance with OPP policies.
E) Transition:
The proposal calls for the disbandment of the existing municipal services to take place effective September 7, 1999.
All municipal officers are to receive a one week orientation program at the OPP academy in Orillia. This includes training on OMPPAC, OPP computer and radio systems and OPP policies and procedures. Fergus Police Service officers will receive training on the Sig Sauer pistols. They currently use another weapon. All training would be completed by July 31, 1999.
Joint patrols will be used to familiarize officers with their new patrol zones. As well, a public education campaign would advise citizens of the changes.
Decision:
Is the proposal likely to provide the County of Wellington with “adequate and effective police services”?
The Act does not define what constitutes “adequate and effective police services”. However, some assistance can be found in certain provisions of the legislation and prior decisions of the Commission.
In particular, section 4(2) of the Act states:
4(2) Adequate and effective police services must include, at a minimum, all of the following police services:
Crime Prevention.
Law enforcement.
Assistance to victims of crime.
Public order maintenance.
Emergency response.
Section 4(3) sets out that a municipality must provide “all the infrastructure and administration necessary for providing such services, including vehicles, boats, equipment, communications devices, buildings and supplies”.
Commission decisions in various contexts have articulated different tests to assess or determine adequacy. At page 15 of Municipality of Chatham-Kent (August 14, 1998) we stated:
Broadly these tests have been comparative or alternative. The comparative tests may be applied historically or geographically. Where it is applied historically, the current or proposed staffing level is compared to that which the municipality has received in the past. If past staffing levels were considered adequate the proposed or current level is normally presumed to be adequate and effective.
Where the comparative test is applied geographically, the proposed or current staffing level is measured against those found in communities of similar size or needs. If those levels are considered adequate in those communities a similar level proposed is generally presumed to be adequate and effective. These presumptions are by definition rebuttable.
How does this apply to the facts of this case?
At the present time the County of Wellington is policed by four police forces. Collectively, they dedicate approximately 82.91 uniformed officers, 5.74 civilian staff, and 12 part time contract guards. It is proposed to integrate these resources with OPP officers providing purely provincial policing services.
In practice this would mean deployment of 102 uniformed officers, 11 civilian employees and 15 contract guards. Of this total 84.20 officers and 9.02 civilian employees would be dedicated to municipal policing. They would be supported by an auxiliary force of 15 members.
On the face of it, this is very similar to the current municipal deployment. The total uniformed strength would increase slightly from 82.91 to 84.20. Leaving aside cleaning staff the level of civilian clerical support would remain the same at 5.74. As well, the number of sergeants would remain 9.56.
However, given the fact that three chiefs will no longer be required the total constable strength will increase from 69 to 73. This will permit an enhancement in community based policing by permitting the dedicated deployment of two constables to work exclusively in local high schools and one constable to undertake general community services.
Patrol constables would be supported by 6 detective constables and three court constables. They would be deployed in 10 patrol zones to provide the County with 24 hour policing coverage. This is a notable improvement for the communities of Palmerston and Harriston which now only receive 20 hour coverage.
The proposed arrangement would have 13 supervisory staff (one inspector, one staff sergeant and 11 sergeants) supervising 100 full time officers and civilian staff. Overall, this is one manager for every 7.7 full time employee. Even adding in the part time guards this would represent an acceptable span of control. Town of Goderich (October
27, 1997).
Overall, the dedicated municipal officer to population ratio would be 1:754. This would be a decrease for Fergus, Palmerston and Harriston and an increase for the balance of the County. Taken as a whole it is an improvement from the current County wide ratio of
1:766.
The proposed ratio is similar to that of other mainly rural communities in south and southwest Ontario. By way of example, the Commission has recently approved new policing arrangements for Chatham-Kent at 1:738, Haldimand-Norfolk at 1:726, Oxford (Woodstock, Norwich, Tavistock, Blandford-Blenheim, East Zorra-Tavistock) at 1:766 and Leamington-Mersea at 1:743.
We acknowledge the administrative and organizational benefits in consolidating the current four services into one integrated structure. We are satisfied that the proposed level of staffing, deployment and supervision should allow for adequate and effective policing. This conclusion is specifically based on improvement in current County wide policing levels, the increase in dedicated community policing resources, the introduction of County wide 24 hour policing, the deployment of an expanded auxiliary unit, and the favorable comparison to staffing in similar rural areas.
We would however, observe that if the County grows at the projected rate (100,000 by
- there will be a need to ensure that the complement is increased correspondingly.
The next issue is facilities. As noted earlier the proposal calls for the retention of the OPP detachments in Guelph and Mount Forest. Apart from some improvements required to cells, these facilities appear to be sound.
Of obvious importance is the new Operational Centres in Fergus and Palmerston. Almost a million dollars has been spent on the purchase and renovation of these two facilities. The proposed plans are excellent.
These buildings should represent a substantial benefit to staff, the communities in question and the County as a whole. Certainly, both Fergus and Palmerston will receive clear advantage from the fact that 41 police staff are deployed from their new facilities. Further, these operational centres will be supported by eleven community policing offices strategically located throughout the County.
We note that one community policing office will be located in the current Harriston Police Service Headquarters building. It may be that given the population of this particular community, the dedicated patrol zone and proximity of Palmerston that
regular staff presence is not required at this building. However, we would strongly suggest that the Board monitor future calls for service and response times to determine whether changes to this arrangement may be necessary. We say this with our decision in Town of Goderich (October 27, 1997) in mind.
Overall, with the above qualification and with modifications to the cells in Mount Forest and Guelph, we are satisfied that the proposed facilities should allow for adequate and effective policing.
We have also considered the proposed communications and dispatch arrangement. As we noted at page 8 of Town of Goderich (April 15, 1996):
It is self evident that a proper communications and dispatch system is a key element of “adequate and effective” policing. Citizens of a community must be able to readily contact their local police forces in cases of emergency. The police force must have an effective means to respond to such calls for service.
The Western Region Telecommunications Centre in Mount Forest is a well established facility. It has operated for a number years and provided dispatch services for the OPP in the County. The proposed addition of four part-time dispatchers should be more than sufficient to handle the additional volume of calls. There are clear advantages to the use of a common communications and record keeping systems. We are satisfied that the suggested arrangement is workable, practical and will meet the needs of the community.
That leaves the issue of equipment. Again, the proposal seems to be both well considered and acceptable. The transitional planning seems realistic given the progress made to date.
Overall, we are satisfied that the proposed policing arrangement will provide the necessary infrastructure and administration to meet the requirements of the Act and allow for adequate and effective policing in the County of Wellington. It is clearly the result of significant work effort and expenditure.
This brings us to the issues of termination and severance. We are advised that all current uniformed members of the Fergus, Palmerston and Harriston Police Services will be offered employment with the Ontario Provincial Police. The same applies to civilian staff.
We are advised that agreements with respect to severance have been concluded with former Chief Rod Freeman of Fergus, Chief Erik Knudsen of Palmerston and Chief Ronald Faulkner of Harriston. This is not the case with the members of the three municipal police associations.
During the course of our meeting we heard concerns expressed by municipal officers about the lack of progress in negotiating 1999 working agreements and frustration with the failure to conclude severance agreements. As well, considerable concern was expressed about the fairness of the process used to reach the decision to seek OPP policing.
On the latter issue, as we noted at page 11 of City of Orillia (January 17, 1996):
… we have had a number of concerns drawn to our attention relating to the contracting process. We can certainly sympathize with members of the community who say that it has been too lengthy and divisive. As well, it seems clear that the time taken to bring this matter to conclusion has had an adverse impact on the morale of both uniformed and civilian employees of the Service.
However, this process is neither of our making nor within our control. It is a function of the existing OPP contracting protocol and decisions made by the local Board and municipality about the public consultation process. When public debate is heated the process can become protracted. This would appear to be the case here.
Ultimately, as we have noted earlier, judgments on the relative merits of the different aspects of OPP versus municipal policing for a particular community and the potential for cost savings are matters to be determined by Council and the Board.
It is not our function to revisit this decision or decide that something else may be better. Even if we were so inclined, we are not able to do so under the provisions of the Act …
The same logic would apply here.
We are advised that the outstanding issues with respect to the unresolved 1999 working agreements are presently under conciliation and if unresolved will been referred to arbitration under section 119 of the Act.
We are requested that any transition to OPP policing be deferred until severance agreements are negotiated with association members and to assist in this process that we direct the Board to order disclosure of the details of the three Chief’s severance packages. We are further requested to reconvene this proceeding at some future date to assess progress on these matters.
Unfortunately, as we read section 40, it does not permit us to take any of these actions. In the absence of an agreement or consent to arbitration section 40(3) states that the
Commission “may order the board to submit the matter to arbitration and give any necessary direction in that connection.”
Accordingly, we direct that if the Board and the three associations are unable to conclude severance agreements within 45 days of the date of this decision any unresolved issues shall proceed forthwith to arbitration. If this matter does so proceed then any disputes with respect to disclosure will be determined by the appointed arbitrator. We would urge all parties to attempt to resolve the outstanding issues.
Accordingly, pursuant to section 40 of the Act, we consent to the abolition of the Fergus Harriston, and Palmerston Police Services in order that policing in the County of Wellington can be provided by means of a contract with the Solicitor General for the services of the Ontario Provincial Police. This consent is effective September 7, 1999.
DATED THIS 19TH DAY OF JULY 1999.
Murray W. Chitra Barbara Morland Wellard
G. Douglas Smith
Chair, OCCPS Member, OCCPS Member, OCCPS