ONTARIO CIVILIAN COMMISSION ON POLICE SERVICES
IN THE MATTER OF an application for consent to the abolishment of the Brant County Police Service
Presiding Members:
Murray W. Chitra, Chair
Karlene J. Hussey, Member
Appearances:
Bill Croome, Chair, Brant County Police Services Board
Ron Eddy, Mayor, County of Brant
John Cain, Chief, Brant County Police Service
Bill Holdaway, Staff Sergeant, Ontario Provincial Police
Harold Coffin, President, Brant County Police Association
Hearing Date: March 22, 2000
This is an application by the County of Brant (the “County”) and the Brant County Police
Services Board (the “Board”) pursuant to section 40 of the Police Services Act, R.S.O.
1990, c. P.15 as amended (the “Act”) for consent to the abolition of the Brant County Police Service (the “Service”) for the purpose of having policing for the municipality provided by the Ontario Provincial Police (the “OPP”).
Background:
On January 26, 1998, the Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing issued an order authorizing the restructuring of the Town of Paris and the Townships of Brantford, Burford, Oakland, Onondaga and South Dumfries. This resulted in the amalgamation of these municipalities for the creation of the new municipality of the County of Brant effective January 1, 1999.
The County is situated in southwestern Ontario. It surrounds the City of Brantford and borders the Regional Municipalities of Waterloo to the north; Hamilton-Wentworth to the east; Haldimand-Norfolk to the south and the County of Oxford to the west. It has a population of 29,150, occupies an area of 525.11 sq. kms and has approximately 1300 kms of roads. The County is primarily agricultural, supplemented by light industrial and manufacturing sectors.
The policing arrangements for the County currently consists of a municipal Service, which provides policing for what was the Town of Paris, and the OPP, which provides policing for the former Townships of Brantford, Burford, Oakland, Onondaga, and South Dumfries. The City of Brantford maintains its own municipal police service and is not a subject of this proceeding.
A transition board and emergency services committee undertook the task of establishing a single police service for the new municipality and worked in conjunction with a coalition of local Community Policing Committees. This group developed, distributed, collected and analyzed data from a county-wide survey on the issue. This survey was distributed to the citizens between July and October 1998.
In August 1998, a request for a policing proposal for the new municipality was sent to what was then the Paris Police Service and the OPP.
In 1999, the Brant County Police Restructuring Committee was formed with members from the County Council, the Board, three community advisory committees, representatives from the Police Association, the Chief of Police, the Brantford County OPP Detachment Commander and a member the Policing Services Division of the Ministry of the Solicitor General. This committee was charged with processing the police costing models and other duties associated with the restructuring.
The Service and the OPP provided detailed policing proposals. A series of public meetings were held between June 24 and October 19, 1999 at various locations in the County at which these models were presented to the public. These meetings were well attended and questions were received and answered by the presenters. The County hired a consultant to do an analysis of both proposals.
On October 19, 1999 the County Council passed a resolution to accept the OPP proposal, and on November 17th the Board passed a similar resolution. Copies of both resolutions were forwarded to the Ontario Civilian Commission on Police Services (“the Commission”) on November 22, 1999 with a request that a hearing be held under section 40 of the Act to disband the Service. A public meeting was scheduled for March
22, 2000 and notice of this meeting was published in the local newspapers.
The meeting took place as scheduled. The Commission heard presentations from five individuals and received written materials in support of the application. We requested further information on certain aspects of the proposal, which we received subsequently.
The Law:
The provisions of the Act govern policing in Ontario.
Section 4(1) of the Act requires that every municipality shall provide adequate and effective police services in accordance with its needs.
Section 4(2) defines “adequate and effective” as the ability to provide policing services under the five following categories: Crime Prevention, Law Enforcement, Assistance to Victims of Crime, Public Order Maintenance and Emergency Response.
Section 4(3) requires that a municipality shall be responsible for providing all necessary infrastructure and administration required to provide adequate and effective police services.
A municipality may meet this obligation by establishing and maintaining its own force, entering into a joint agreement with another municipality or contracting for the provision of the services of the OPP. However, where a municipal police force exists, section 40 of the Act defines the procedure that must be followed before it is abolished.
Specifically, section 40 provides:
(1) A board may terminate the employment of a member of the police force for the purpose of abolishing the police force if the abolition does not contravene this Act.
(2) The Commission shall consent to the termination of the employment of a member of the 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 member and the board to submit the matter to arbitration.
The Issues:
The first concern of the Commission is to ensure that no municipal force is abolished unless arrangements have been made to meet the policing needs of the community. Any new arrangement must provide the infrastructure (i.e. staff, equipment and facilities) to ensure adequate and effective police services. To this end the Commission reviews the proposal accepted by Council and considers all relevant public comments and submissions.
The proposal in question not only seeks to disband the Service, but replace it with an arrangement for the new municipality and so it is necessary to examine the proposal in its totality.
The second issue is whether or not under the proposal, existing members of the police service which is subject to the proposed abolition, are dealt with in a fair and reasonable manner. If any member is to be terminated as a consequence of the abolition, the question then becomes whether or not the parties have reached an agreement with respect to severance or have consented to having any outstanding matters referred to arbitration. If no arrangement has been reached, then the Commission may order the parties to arbitration.
That said, it is worth noting that there are several issues which the Commission will not consider. 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 also not our role to judge whether what is being proposed is superior to what may already be in place or some other alternative. Our focus is to determine whether the proposed arrangements 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.
Current Policing Arrangement:
As noted earlier, the former Town of Paris has its own municipal police service. The former Townships of Brantford, Burford, Oakland, Onondaga, and South Dumfries are policed by the OPP. For the purposes of this proceeding it is important to understand how these services are structured.
Paris is an urban area, which occupies 8.64 kms with a road system of 165 kms. It is situated at the forks of the Grand River as it joins with the Nith River. It has a population of 8,653 with 3380 households. The Service operates out of a building located at 28
Mechanic Street owned by the municipality and has provided service for the past one hundred and forty three years to the town of Paris.
There are 15 sworn officers and 5 full-time and 4 part-time support staff. There is also an authorized complement of 10 auxiliary officers. The breakdown of the uniformed officers is as follows:
1 chief of police
2 sergeants
12 constables
15 total
The police to population ratio is 1:577 (15 officers to 8,653 residents) and the supervisor to constable ratio is 1:4.
The Townships of Brantford, Burford, Oakland, Onondaga and South Dumfries are mainly farming communities with 2 larger villages: St. George in North Dumfries and the
Village of Burford. The area occupies 1153 square kilometres and the road system is approximately 1121 kilometres, 69 kms of which are highways. This area has a combined population of 20,497 with 7,400 households.
The Burtch Correctional Centre is located in West Burford and houses 200 inmates in a minimum to medium security designation.
The OPP detachment is currently located at 10 Fairview Drive in the City of Brantford. There are also 3 community-policing offices located in Burford, Onondaga, and South Dumfries. There is a total of 24.8 uniform OPP officers and 2.4 civilian employees assigned to municipal policing. The breakdown of the uniformed officers is as follows:
.8 staff sergeant
3.2 sergeant
4 detective constables
.8 court constable
16 patrol constables
24.8 total
The police to population ratio for the combined area is 1:826 and the supervisor to constable ratio is 1:5.2.
The new County of Brant has a combined population of 29,150 in an area of 326.30 square miles and has a total of 10,780 households. Taking into account the policing resources set out above, the current dedicated policing complement is 39.8 uniformed officers and 8.4 civilians. The overall total police to population ratio is 1:732 (39.8 officers: 29,150 residents) and the supervisor to constable ratio is 1:4.7.
The Proposal:
Staff Sergeant Holdaway of the OPP described to us in detail the proposed policing arrangement for the County. This proposal is described below under the general headings of staffing, deployment, facilities, communications, equipment and transition.
(A) Staffing
The proposal seeks to amalgamate the existing municipal and OPP resources. The intention is to have 42.40 uniformed officers and 2.4 clerical staff dedicated to municipal policing in Brant County. As well, the equivalent of 5 full-time civilian employees will be transferred from the Service to the municipality. They would continue to provide dispatch, clerical and reception services from the police facility.
The breakdown of the uniformed officers dedicated to policing Brant County is as follows:
.80 staff sergeant
.80 sergeant/program manager
3.20 sergeant /team leader
4.00 detective constables
.80 court officer
32.00 patrol constables
42.40 total
The police to population ratio for the County under the new integrated proposal is 1:688 (42.40 officers: 29,150 residents). The dedicated municipal officers will be supported by 11.6 uniformed provincial officers, 10 auxiliary members and .6 civilians.
(B) Facilities
The OPP proposes 28 Mechanic Street, which now houses the Brant County Police Service, to be used as the administration and operations centre for the Brant County OPP. This facility would be accessible to the public 24 hours a day and staffed accordingly. This means that the OPP detachment in Brantford would be closed but all 3 existing community offices in the townships of Burford, Onondaga and South Dumfries would remain as part of the new model.
The 28 Mechanic Street facility has 11,00 square feet and was extensively renovated in
- All secure areas in the building including the four cells, hallways, garage, booking and interview rooms, are video and audio monitored.
The OPP has determined that certain renovations are required in order to accommodate the increased officer complement. We have been provided with a copy of the renovation requirements by the OPP which includes:
Increased personnel locker facilities
New handgun lockers in accordance with OPP specifications
Re-location of existing lockers
Main level soft interview room
Flooring replacement in specified areas
Installation of power pole for constable’s area
Cell door renovations
Replacement of existing sign face
Hardware upgrade
Replacement of building communications wiring
Unfinished area to be renovated for crime unit office.
Donald P. Plumstead has been retained to prepare plans and oversee the renovations to this building. An estimate for this work of $76,064 was submitted to County Council. We have been provided with Council’s resolution committing funds immediately for this work in the amount submitted.
The three community policing offices would remain.
(C) Deployment
The proposal calls for 24-hour coverage achieved through rotating 12-hour shifts on a 4- platoon roster. There would be 10 constables assigned to each platoon, 8 of whom would be dedicated to municipal policing concerns. The other 2 officers are described
as provincial officers presumably performing traffic and general enforcement on the
Provincial highways in the County.
Officers dedicated to policing the municipality would be deployed in 4 patrol zones which would encompass the former Town of Paris, South Dumfries, Brant West, Brantford/Oakland/Onondaga. There would be a minimum of 2 officers working in the former town of Paris at any given time and 2 officers in each of the remaining service areas, namely South Dumfries, Brant West, and Brantford/Oakland/Onondaga. This is consistent with the present service levels.
The Brant County Detachment 2000 Business Plan indicates a commitment to better interaction with the public and to improve police presence and visibility by increasing patrols of rural areas, increasing foot patrols and implementing bicycle and beat patrols in the three villages of St. George, Burford and Scotland along the Grand River trail system. Also, detachment members plan to make better use of the community police offices.
A sergeant would supervise each shift. If additional supervision was required, the sergeant-program manager would be available Monday through Friday from 8:30am to
4:30pm. Operational supervision would be available from the on-duty sergeant at the
Western Region OPP Communications Centre 24 hours a day.
(D) Communications
Under the proposal, citizens in Brant County would be able to contact the police by using 911 for emergencies or through a toll free 1-888-number. Cellular phone users could dial OPP ( 677). There would also be a local administrative number and teletypewriter service (TTY) for the hearing impaired.
The OPP communication network is a hybrid microwave system using several linked communications towers strategically placed throughout the County of Brant and Region of Hamilton-Wentworth providing overlapping coverage. It is proposed that members of the Brant County Detachment would be dispatched from the OPP Communications Centre in London. This facility operates on a 24-hour basis 365 days a year. It is staffed by a staff sergeant, unit commander, 49 communications operators, a technologist and
6 sergeant team leaders, who would be available to provide operational support to officers on patrol.
The OPP Communications Centre monitors OPP, simplex and provincial common channels. All incoming and outgoing radio and telephone conversations are recorded. The Centre has emergency battery and diesel power backup.
Officers would be equipped with a portable radio while on patrol, which utilizes an in- car repeater and is an extension of the police vehicle’s communication system. A Beat Police Radio System (BPRS) would be installed in vehicles to be used in Paris to facilitate foot and bicycle patrols. This system is designed for urban areas. The BPRS uses a separate frequency but allows for direct access with the OPP Communications Centre.
The information confirmed that communication testing in the County of Brant indicates that all areas have appropriate coverage.
E) Equipment
Officers would be provided with the necessary uniforms and would be issued with Sig Sauer P229 handguns used by the OPP. The Service uses a different firearm and they would be responsible for the proper disposal of their weapons.
The OPP integrated Detachment will be equipped with:
1 intoxilyzer
4 roadside screening devices
4 radar units
17 long guns
2 spike belt
2 bicycles
13 marked cruisers
3 unmarked vehicles
The Brant County Police Service uses Law Enforcement Automated Digital Electronic Resources (LEADER) an in-house records management system.The OPP use the Ontario Municipal and Provincial Police Automation Co-operative (OMPPAC) as their records management system. It is proposed that all Service officers who enter the OPP receive training on OMPPAC over the course of the transition period.
Canadian Police Information Centre (CPIC) files relating to the town of Paris would be transferred to the Western Region OPP Centralized CPIC Unit. All police records and indices relating to the town of Paris would be maintained in accordance with the requirements of the OPP Record Management System.
F) Transition
All uniformed members of the Service have been offered employment with the OPP. It is proposed that all officers who accept would receive one week of orientation training at the OPP academy in Orillia.
The members of the Service joining the OPP would be involved in joint patrols with OPP officers so as to become familiar with the whole community and would received training on the use of the OPP mobile communication system and OMPPAC during that period.
Representatives of the OPPA, OMERS and the Ontario Pension Board have already met with members of the Service to answer employment and transition concerns.
Upon approval of this application by the Commission, the public would be kept informed by media releases.
Decision:
Is the proposal presented likely to provide the County of Brant with “adequate and effective police services”?
The Act does not define what constitutes “adequate and effective police services”. However, certain sections of the Act and prior Commission decisions provide assistance.
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 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 infrastructure and administration necessary for providing such services, including vehicles, boats, equipment, communication 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 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 these 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 do these tests apply to this application?
At the present time, the County of Brant is policed by two police services under two different arrangements. Collectively there are 39.8 uniformed officers and 8.4 civilian employees to police the municipality. It is proposed to integrate these resources into a new structure with a dedicated force of 42.4 uniformed officers and 2.4 civilian employees. A further 5 civilian employees would be municipal employees providing some police related services. This is an overall increase of 2.6 officers.
It would result in a citizen to officer ratio of 1:688. The OPP has taken the position that the ratio can be interpreted as 1:540, taking into account the availability of the additional
11.6 officers through Provincial resources. However, our concern is the obligation of a municipality to provide adequate and effective policing. In any event provincial resources are available or ought to be, in every municipality in which the OPP polices the highways and should not be taken into account in determining the ratio. The Commission will therefore focus on the adequacy of the proposed complement dedicated to municipal policing.
On the face of it the proposal would result in a reduced level of policing coverage in the Town of Paris (from a ratio of 1:577 to 1:688). However, taken as a whole the new municipality would see an increase in the number of officers and greater police coverage (from a ratio of 1:826 to 1:688).
As well, there are obvious advantages to the proposed integrated structure such as efficiencies in the shared cost for facilities and administration as well as the elimination of duplication of services in the County. There are also a number of factors to be considered, including the proposed level of service, distances to be covered in the area, comparisons with communities of similar character, size and needs, data on calls for service and crime rates.
To this end, it is worthwhile to examine the policing arrangements in communities of mixed rural and urban communities of similar population.
MUNICIPALITY
POPULATION
POLICE OFFICERS
RATIO
Town of Amherstburg1
19,308
28
1:690
Town of Essex2
19,201
24
1:800
Town of Kingsville (OPP)3
18,407
19.86
1:927
Town of LaSalle
20,924
28
1:747
Town of Leamington5
25,042
35
1:715
Town of Tecumseh6
23,462
26.83
1:874
It is also worthwhile to consider the policing arrangements of Brant County’s neighbouring communities.
MUNICIPALITY
POPULATION
POLICE OFFICERS
RATIO
Haldimand-Norfolk7
98,000
117
1:726
Oxford-Community8
57,500
75
1:766
Wellington9
63,500
84.2
1:754
Brantford
86,100
133
1:647
Clearly, the proposed level falls within acceptable staffing levels for adjoining municipalities.
The proposed level of supervision, that is, 1 supervisor to 7.84 constables, is an acceptable span of control (Town of Goderich October 27, 1997, OCCPS). The
proposed patrol zones, shift arrangement and general deployment of staff are adequate.
The proposed use of 28 Mechanic Street as the new OPP detachment for the integrated model is a good choice and has a number of advantages. These include the fact that it
is familiar to the public and it is able to accommodate any further expansion as necessary. The choice of this location allows for minimal disruption for the citizens of the former town of Paris and the remaining zones would also retain the community offices previously used by the OPP. As well, having the Detachment located in Paris would increase police presence in that community.
The OPP requires certain renovations to the building at 28 Mechanic Street and the City has committed to carrying out these renovations. We have two concerns with the list approved by the City. The first is with the item entitled “Handgun Lockers, Lockerette type”. The report of March 14, 2000 submitted by Donald P. Plumstead to the Corporation of County of Brant questions the need for handgun lockers as specified by the OPP property infrastructure analyst. He submitted 2 quotes for this item; one for
1See Town of Amherstburg (December 1, 1999, OCCPS)
2See Town of Essex (December 23, 1998, OCCPS)
3See Town of Kingsville (December 30, 1998, OCCPS)
5 See Town of Leamington and Township of Mersea (July 1, 1998, OCCPS)
6 See Town of Tecumseh (January 20, 2000, OCCPS)
7 See Haldimand-Norfolk (September 24, 1998, OCCPS)
8 See Oxford-Community (December 18, 1998, OCCPS)
9 See Wellington County (July 19, 1999, OCCPS)
lockers with OPP specification for $4,529.00 and the second for the Lockerette type for
$3,165.00. Council has approved spending for the Lockerette type. We do not believe that OPP policy on this item should be second-guessed and therefore the renovations should be carried out in accordance with OPP specifications at $4,529.00.
The second item with which we have some concerns is entitled “Building Communications Wiring”. There is some disagreement on whether or not current wiring ought to be replaced with upgraded “Category 5” wiring. This is in anticipation of future communications requirements. By way of compromise, the municipality has agreed to build the necessary conduits and install the enhanced wiring upon the request of the Detachment Commander. This appears acceptable.
The OPP Communications Centre in London is currently providing the dispatching for the Brant County OPP. This arrangement works well and we are satisfied that it will continue to do so.
The final issue to be considered in this application is that of termination and severance. We are advised that all members of the Service have been offered employment with the OPP. An agreement was reached with the Paris Police Association to compensate members for the loss of benefits in OMERS.
All full time civilian employees, except one, will become full time municipal employees responsible for fire dispatch and station attendant duties. The remaining full time civilian employee has reached an agreement with respect to severance. The four part-time dispatchers whose employment totals less than a full time employee will remain on an on call basis with one regular 8 hour shift per week.
As we stated in Town of Tecumseh we have some concerns where municipal employees are performing policing functions. We stated at Page 14:
Even assuming that such an arrangement is permissible under the relevant collective agreements, we are concerned that the employees in question could be moved or transferred, reassigned, or their work priorities changed by their municipal employers based on concerns unrelated to policing needs.
Accordingly, to our mind it is important that any contract between the municipality and OPP provide that for the term of the agreement these positions are to remain in place and be dedicated to policing.
The same logic would apply with respect to these civilians.
The only outstanding matter deals with the agreement between the Chief and the Board and we were informed, subsequent to the hearing, that Chief Cain has reached a satisfactory agreement with the Board and Municipality.
It is our view that the proposed integrated service will provide for the County of Brant a level of police service equivalent to that which it currently receives. Accordingly, we approve the disbandment of the Brant County Police Service pursuant to section 40 of the Police Services Act.
Our thanks to all of those individuals who assisted with the presentation of this well considered plan.
This approval is subject to the following conditions:
All renovations are completed as scheduled.
The contract between the municipality and OPP clearly provides that the support staff provided by the Town are available to provide policing duties (i.e. reception and clerical) and that the positions are to remain in place during the term of the agreement.
The proposal, as presented, is not to be altered without the consent in writing from the
Commission.
DATED THIS 2ND DAY OF JUNE, 2000.
Murray Chitra Karlene J. Hussey
Chair, OCCPS Member, OCCPS