Town council votes to stick with the Windsor Police Service for another five years

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Prue said the previous council, where he served as a councillor, set aside money to switch back, if that was the wish of council. Approximately $365,000 was put aside in the first year with $100,000 in each of the next two years, but that $565,000 that was set aside in total “may be spoken for” for fire department radios.

“That’s the reality of budgeting. That’s where it may be going, and that will leave next to nothing in the police reserve,” said Prue.

The mayor wanted to know how much money would be necessary “to have a serious conversation” about policing options.

“I thought we were going to have a serious conversation but we find all the money has been spent on something else,” said Prue.

CAO Valerie Critchley disputed the money in the reserve has been spent, stating there is money in the capital budget and the decision is with council on how it is spent.

“Whether or not council uses that now for the radios or later, it will be at least $500,000 if we have to put aside our own police radio system,” she said. “Not enough has been put aside for that cost, which I believe was known at that time, that the police radios would have to be replaced.”

Prue suggested the town build that reserve up in case the citizens choose to have its own police service again.

The mayor added he has no ill will towards Windsor regarding the police service board position, stating he was told by Windsor Mayor Drew Dilkens that the city would choose one of its citizens for the spot and that they had 49 applications.

“That’s the way they see it and that’s the way it was,” said Prue.

The mayor added he will continue to attend the meetings and he will try and convince the province to expand the board to seven members.

“I think that would be the best situation,” said Prue. Deputy Mayor Chris Gibb said “what happened in the past has happened. It’s done. The question is how we are going to move forward.” Gibb believed it would be “absolutely overwhelming” to restart Amherstburg police, with annual costs to be more than with what Windsor police offers. Reserves aren’t there and “it is what it is” adding he was doubtful there was enough time to get it done. Partnering with LaSalle was another option, but Gibb said there would be start-up costs with that too.

“LaSalle’s cost per resident is much higher than what we’re paying right now,” the deputy mayor stated. Going with the OPP was another option, and while noting there was about a $2 million cost difference, Gibb said when speaking with other municipal leaders, some were not satisfied with the service they were receiving.

Gibb didn’t believe renewing with Windsor was a bad option, citing that 90 per cent of people felt safe in Amherstburg based on the recent survey. He added he has never heard anyone not receiving exemplary service, but wished Prue had a vote on the police service board.

“If we’re going to be honest with each other, we don’t really have a choice at this point,” said Gibb. “I feel the Windsor Police – Amherstburg Detachment does a good job, they do it at a reasonable cost and every indication I see is that the people of Amherstburg are happy with it.”

Gibb later read from Critchley’s written report on the reserve situation, where it stated the opening balance was $344,776. In 2020, $546,000 was recommended in the draft budget but was reduced to $100,000 during that year’s budget deliberation. In 2021, an additional $100,000 was placed into that reserve but nothing was placed into in during 2022 deliberations.

“While there is no money in reserves, it was a conscious decision that money was not put into reserves. I’m not going to speak to what was decided at that time but I think it is important as this is problematic for Amherstburg as not enough money is put into reserves,” said Gibb. “Here’s a prime example of when we didn’t and now it’s coming back to bite us.”

McArthur disagreed that the decision cost the town, stating residents were promised savings and that is what they received. He said the town had the option to do what it liked and pull the money it needed, but didn’t want to do that citing operational savings.

Critchley said administration compared the policing costs with that of Strathroy-Caradoc in preparation of the report. She said when Amherstburg numbers were studied, it showed an average annual savings of

$348,000 for a savings of approximately $1.7 million over the life of the contract. She estimated start-up costs to switch back, including radios, to be at least $500,000 with another $350,000 per year. A consultant would also be required to make another switch.

Prue pointed out there were no delegations listed on the evening’s agenda, and opened the floor to the crowded council chamber with one person stepping forward.

Nancy Atkinson questioned why there was a report of 380 calls by the Windsor police traffic unit in 2019.

“That’s more accidents than one a day in the Town of Amherstburg. How can that be?” she asked.

Those numbers dropped to 84 in 2020, 23 in 2021 and 27 last year. Atkinson said she was part of the fight in 2018 to keep Amherstburg police, noting she was told how important Windsor’s special units were.

Atkinson added statistics for the investigative branch went from 33 calls in 2019 to 375 in 2022.

Chief Jason Bellaire, joined by other high-ranking Windsor police officers, noted that in 2019, there were assigned traffic officers in Amherstburg in 2019 and the numbers increased every time they went out on a call. As the years went on, Bellaire said the traffic officers were not designated as such and those numbers only reflected when the traffic or accident reconstruction units came to Amherstburg. Bellaire said work done by the IB unit has shifted to Windsor rather than stay in Amherstburg, something he called “an escalated service” that improved public safety.

Atkinson asked whether the 380 numbers would be used to determine whether the cost of specialty units is efficient. She also questioned whether council members saw the numbers, with McArthur noting he and Councillor Molly Allaire had chatted about it already. McArthur also questioned self-generated walk-in incidents, and was told Bellaire people’s habits changed due to increased online reporting. Staff Sgt. Brian Caffarena added there are civilian personnel on hand during the day to assist the public with requests.

Bellaire told town council the minimum amount of officers on duty is three with being three to six most nights. He estimated 50 per cent of the former Amherstburg police officers are still here with others moving to Windsor or retiring.

Councillor Peter Courtney was not in attendance at last Wednesday’s meeting. Councillor Diane Pouget declared a conflict of interest due to having a family member employed by Windsor police and she did not participate.

Fire near Paquette Corners causes about $100,000 in damage

By RTT Staff

A fire in Paquette Corners near McGregor caused about $100,000 in damage Saturday morning, says the Amherstburg Fire Department.

Assistant deputy chief Dan Monk said the fire started from a wood stove in a garage structure on Walker Road, which he said has multiple uses including a garage and apartment. No one was occupying the structure at the time, Monk pointed out.

“Luckily, there is a one-person room in the garage but no one was residing in there at the time,” said Monk.

Monk credited fire crews for containing the damage to one area of the building.

The blaze spread slightly but firefighters kept it mainly to one section.

“We were able to keep it to the roof,” said Monk.

Monk said the fire call came in around 4 a.m. Saturday and crews were on scene roughly four hours. The Windsor Police Service – Amherstburg Detachment assisted with road closures. Approximately 30 firefighters were on scene, from Stations 2 and 3 (Anderdon and Malden).

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