OPP Costs Half That Of Municipal Police Force

(CHATSWORTH, ON) – The Ontario Provincial Police (OPP) would like to respond to comments reported in the media that were attributed to the Chair of the Owen Sound Police Services Board regarding the costs associated to policing the Municipality of Meaford and the Township of Georgian Bluffs. The OPP also wants to correct the misleading statement that “the OPP is the most expensive, highest paid police force in all of the province”.

The OPP currently provides police services to 325 Municipalities in Ontario. A lower cost combined with a high quality of service is the reason that many municipalities have amalgamated their services with the OPP. OPP costs compare favourably on a per household basis to municipal police services which can be attributed to economies of scale in administration, purchasing, training, and supervision. The OPP is constantly looking to improve efficiencies in its operations and service delivery costs. These cost savings are factored into the billing for OPP policed municipalities.

The OPP currently polices the Municipality of Meaford as a Section 10 Contract under the Police Services Act (PSA) at a cost of $306 per household (5,591 households for $1,713,435 in 2012).

The Township of Georgian Bluffs is also under a Section 10 PSA contract with the OPP at a cost of $201 per household (4,987 households for $1,002,227 in 2012).

When compared to the 2011 cost of nearby Owen Sound, which has its own municipal police service, the per household costs for OPP service in Meaford and Georgian Bluffs are less than half the per household cost for policing in Owen Sound according to information supplied to the Ontario Ministry of Municipal Affairs and Housing by the municipality.

“The OPP believes that the Municipality of Meaford and the Township of Georgian Bluffs are getting excellent service and value through their contracts,” said Inspector Mike Guilfoyle, Detachment Commander of the Grey County OPP. “The OPP not only provides our communities with policing service that is second to none, but we often enhance our local service with other OPP units and programs” he added.

The comment that the OPP is “the highest paid police force in all of the province” as stated by the Chair of the Owen Sound Police Services Board is incorrect.

In 2011 the Ministry of Government Services and the Ontario Provincial Police Association (OPPA) negotiated a Collective Bargaining Agreement that resulted in OPP members accepting a two-year wage freeze in 2012 and 2013. In exchange for the wage freeze the Province agreed to provide OPP members with a salary increase in 2014 equivalent to the highest paid municipal police service in Ontario. The percentage of that increase is dependent on the wage increases negotiated between municipal police services boards and their municipalities. In fact, according to the most recent RCMP Pay Council Report from June of 2013, there are 27 municipal police services in Ontario that currently pay higher salaries to their officers than the OPP. (based on 2012 information). It is estimated that the OPP will receive an 8.5 percent increase as of 2014 based on recent municipal policing contracts.

“The OPP realizes that deciding how you want to be policed is a difficult and often an emotional decision for municipal leaders. We are committed to providing all the information required for them to make an informed decision that is best for our communities” said Guilfoyle.

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