CBC reported, Windsor police merging beyond Amherstburg ‘should be coming’, says chief.

The article includes, “We were late to the party at this end of the province. In the GTA and most geographic areas around the province, the idea of regional policing has been well-entrenched and has been successful for many years,” said Frederick.

I disagree.

There are only 6 regional police services in the province; the majority of communities are policed by the OPP and even some amalgamated communities switched to OPP to realize savings.

According to a 2018 TVO article, Contracting with the Windsor police service won’t produce as great a saving as contracting with the OPP. Currently, the Amherstburg service costs each of its households $658 a year. A five-year contract with the Windsor proposal would drop that cost to just under $600 a year. (And a contract with Windsor would produce some other savings for the municipality, adds DiCarlo, such as $3 million for the Amherstburg police’s long-term benefit costs.) By way of comparison, in 2014, Lewis estimated the OPP per household cost to be $360.

In 2015 CTV reported, No tangible benefit to municipal amalgamation: report.

Another study, Amalgamation of Police Services by John Kiedrowski, Ronald-Frans Melchers, Michael Petrunik, Rick Ruddell concluded, “The majority of studies focused on economies of scale also suggest, however, that there are limited or no cost efficiencies associated with larger municipal police departments (i.e., those policing more than 50,000 inhabitants).”

I have yet to find research indicating regionalization saves money.

Edited to add: The Star’s View: Regional police no cure for costs: Regional policing should be studied, although the likelihood of Essex County’s six towns agreeing to it are extremely low – as is the likelihood of a regional force saving any money.