Tag Archives: Windsor Police

Deputy Mayor Gibb On Policing Options/Windsor Contract

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At the February 8, 2023 Special Council Meeting, Mayor Prue asked if there were any further questions. Deputy Mayor Gibb said he didn’t really have a question, although his statement lasted approximately 4 minutes, some of which was repetitive and redundant.

He reiterated the purpose of the meeting: to determine if they were going to renew this contract and mentioned what happened in the past has happened; it’s done. Then he thought they had 4 options:

  1. restart our own police service, which he thought the cost would be overwhelming and noted the reserves that we were supposed to have put aside, aren’t there. Also, there are 10 months before the end of this contract.
  2. partner with LaSalle; he mentioned startup costs with that, LaSalle’s cost per resident is much higher and again, there are 10 months before the end of this contract.
  3. the OPP; there’s a significant cost difference to the OPP of around $2 million a year. Initially, he said the other municipal leaders have all said they’re not satisfied with, then stated he shouldn’t say they’ve all said, certain ones have said they’re not satisfied with the service they’re getting from the OPP. And again, there are 10 months before the end of this contract.
  4. renew the Windsor contract, which he didn’t think was a bad option because:
    • we’re saving money over what our own service would have cost;
    • the survey results from late 2022; 
    • his day job encounters with people who interact with the police
    • he’s never heard that they haven’t received exemplary service.
    • we don’t really have a choice at this point
    • he feels the Windsor police Amherstburg detachment does a great job protecting Amherstburg; they do it at a reasonable cost.

He felt they were going to have to vote to go with the recommendation and eventually moved to receive the report and go forward with renewing the Windsor police contract for the next five years. Carried.

Mayor Michael Prue acknowledged he snuck it in very very good.

Listen to the audio.

EDITED: I emailed Deputy Mayor Gibb with a follow up question: you stated there’s a significant cost difference to the OPP of around $2 million a year; is that $2 million a year of savings or $2 million a year in higher costs?

His response: I believe what I said is that it appears as if the OPP model of policing would be around $2 million per year less than our current WPD-Amherstburg Detachment policing model as per the attached 2022 budget documents.

Amherstburg’s net total cost of policing was pegged at around $5,397,437 (bottom right of Amherstburg police.pdf document)
Essex’s net total cost of policing was pegged at around $3,073,673 ($3,054,032 police + $19,641 police board)
Kingville’s net total cost of policing was pegged at around $3,391,714.
So, the OPP model for Essex and Kingsville appears to be around $2 million per year less than Amherstburg’s.

more to follow.

We Already Pay For Policing

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Heidi Baillargeon recommends ‘That Council APPROVE an over expenditure in the amount of $20,000 from the General Reserve Fund in order to cover the cost of this service’ in her report on today’s council meeting agenda: Subject: Safety at Admiral Hockey Games.

The town’s obligations regarding the provision of adequate and effective police services in accordance with its needs is set out in provincial legislation and the 20-year contract between the town of Amherstburg and Windsor.

(3) Every chief of police shall establish procedures and processes on community patrol which address when and where directed patrol is considered necessary or appropriate, based on such factors as crime, call and public disorder analysis, criminal intelligence and road safety.  O. Reg. 3/99, s. 4 (3)

If safety issues are affecting the community and amenities as mentioned in Baillargeon’s report to council, “This behavior has continued to escalate since last season with damage not only at the Libro but other Town facilities as well such as King Navy Yard Park and Toddy Jones Park washrooms where cameras were recently installed this spring,” should public consultations be held to determine if the community’s policing needs are being met?

The report mentions consultations with Windsor Police generally, but how many incidents were there? were charges laid? what was the result? what is included in the memorandum of understanding to be attached to paid duties? Did Windsor Police publish a report with its recommended actions after it conducted a site assessment, based on principles of Crime Prevention Through Environmental Design like it did for the safety concerns at the skateboard park in October 2021? 

Mayor Aldo DiCarlo was quoted in a Windsor Star article, “Our goal was to try to ensure residents felt no difference … For those who were concerned about a drop in service level — That just didn’t happen. I would say that it appears we have improved service levels.” “The feedback I’ve been getting from residents is that it seems our officers are everywhere,” DiCarlo said.

One or more of the current council candidates has mentioned community safety. Maybe we do need meaningful public consultation.

Windsor Police Service Strategic Plan: Have your say

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From the Windsor Police Service Public News Update:

Over the coming weeks, the WPS will host in-person, one-on-one consultation sessions to offer residents an opportunity to provide input on the development of our strategic priorities and the future of policing in our community.

Town of Amherstburg

When: October 6, 2022, 5:30 p.m. – 7:30 p.m.

Where: Libro Credit Union Centre (Essex Power Energy Zone Room), 3295 Meloche Road

Feedback collected through these sessions will be vital in shaping our policing priorities and lay the foundation for ongoing engagement with the community.

We thank you in advance for your participation in this important process. For more information on the process, please contact the Windsor Police Service at info@windsorpolice.ca.

Our 2020-2022 strategic plan is available on the WPS website​.

Reporter’s And Individual’s Requests For Information Compared

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How does a reporter’s experience compare to the average residential taxpayer where there may not be an incentive to quickly comply with requests for information?

Julie Kotsis, the Windsor Star, reported that Amherstburg CAO John Miceli responded to her email on Day 2.

My experience requesting information from the Town of Amherstburg and Windsor Police differs.

For example, information that should have been readily available required an almost two-year formal appeal process and an Order for the town to search for more records. Windsor Police objected to the disclosure of its Amherstburg policing proposal which resulted in a two-year wait for an Information and Privacy Commission Order to disclose all but two pages of the 131- page document.

Mayor DiCarlo advised the appropriate avenue was through a written inquiry sent to Windsor Police for information pertaining to the utilization of specialty units in the town of Amherstburg since the take-over.

Windsor Police referred me to the company that conducted its telephone survey, which did not respond. Back to Windsor Police who directed me to submit a Freedom of Information request.

Most recently, the town of Amherstburg insists it is fair to impose an $892.50 fee to complete a request for detailed information that the clerk and CAO publicly stated during a council meeting.

Over a year ago, I requested councillors consider creating a protocol to answer taxpayers’ and media inquiries. In response, the CAO advised the town is in the process of creating a Routine Disclosure and Active Dissemination Policy and, until adopted, requested that all information I seek be made through the formal process.

I repeated my request in April this year for council to adopt the Information and Privacy Commissioner recommended Routine Disclosure and Active Dissemination Policy, revised in 1998.

The town clerk advised COVID impacted services and only Councillor Prue supported it and reminded members of council that during the last election, they all said we need more openness and citizen involvement.

I wonder which will come first; a policy or more campaign promises to be open, transparent and accountable.

Commentary by Linda Saxon

Leamington Can’t, Amherstburg Can Afford Windsor Police

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CBC reports, Windsor police proposal too pricey for Leamington council; OPP service to continue.

“At Monday’s meeting, council discussed a report from administration that looked at the WPS proposal. It showed that it would cost $9.4 million dollars to begin using WPS through 2022, which is more than $3 million dollars over the $6.1 million it would pay to continue using the OPP for the same period.

Administration said that would mean a 13 per cent raise in municipal taxes for property owners and it would equate to an average of a an average raise of $232 dollars per household.”

Information And Privacy Commission Order Concludes Appeal With Ministry Solicitor General

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On today’s date, the Information and Privacy Commissioner Ontario orders the ministry to disclose the emails to the appellant (pages 98 and 99), except for the portion withheld on page 99 due to section 18(1)(d). Until the Order is available online, you can read PO-4127 revised by IPC for typos on March 31.

The Ministry and the town of Amherstburg objected to the disclosure and cited law enforcement exemptions.

Windsor police objected to disclosure of pages 142 and 143, floor plans, on the basis of the law enforcement harms in section 14(1) of the Act. In response, the appellant submitted, among other arguments, that the harms were not present because she already had a copy of the floor plans, which she provided, disclosed by The town of Amherstburg.

Windsor Police submitted, in part,

  • Recently a group of individuals stormed the Capital Building. During the investigation into this incident, a video was located. The footage depicts individuals discussing the floor plans to determine the best method to execute entry to the building.”
  • It is not my intent to infer that the requester will use this information for nefarious purposes; however, it has been established, in previous orders, that disclosure to one person is disclosure to the world.
  • It is for the reasons stated above access should be denied to the records. In my opinion, it is not imaginary to assume that the disclosure of the records may lead the theft of firearms, drugs, intelligence information or result in harm being committed against our officers or civilian staff.

Windsor Police Service Board Ordered To Disclose Additional Police Proposal Records

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The Information and Privacy Commissioner Ontario issued Order MO-3927 regarding an Appeal of Windsor Police’s decision to withhold access to parts of its policing proposal to Amherstburg.

Read Want The Windsor Policing Proposal? Pay For It for a detailed background that began in June 2018. Mayor DiCarlo advised the Windsor response would be made public.

Windsor Police relied on several reasons for its decision, including discretionary exemptions: sections 11(f) (economic and other interests), 6(1)(b) (closed meeting), 8(1)(c) (reveal investigative techniques and procedures), (e) (endanger life or safety), (g) (intelligence information), (i) (security) and (l) (facilitate commission of an unlawful act).

ORDER:

  1. I do not uphold WPSB’s decision that section 52(3) applies to pages 23, 24, 28, 29 and 32 of the record and order it to issue an access decision with respect to the these pages. For the purposes of the procedural
    requirements of the access decision, the date of this order is to be treated as the date of the access request.
  2. I uphold the WPSB’s decision to deny access to the information on pages 45 and part of 47 (the code information only) on the basis of section 8(1) (l) of the Act .
  3. I order the WPSB to disclose the following pages of the record: 33, part of 47 (the non-code information), 48, 49, 53, 54, 55, 56, 57, 58, 59, 61, 62, 64, 66, 67, 68, 69, 70, 71, 72, 73, 74, 75, 76, 77, 78, 79, 80, 81, 82, 83, 84, 85, 96, 97, 98, 99, 100, 122, 130 and 131 by providing the appellant with a copy of these pages by July 7, 2020.
  4. In order to verify compliance with order provisions 1 and 3, I reserve the right to require the police to provide me with a copy of the access decision and the records sent to the appellant.
  5. The timelines in order provisions 1 and 3 may be extended if the police are unable to comply in light of the current COVID-19 situation. I remain seized of the appeal to address any such requests.

UPDATE: Windsor Police Service Information and Privacy Co-ordinator requested a 30 day extension from July 6, 2020.

Police Costing Comparison Amherstburg And Orangeville Part 2 Police Complement

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  • Orangeville Police Complement            OPP Proposed Complement
  • Chief                                1                         Superintendent            0.58
  • Deputy                             1
  • Staff Sergeant                  2                         Staff Sergeant              1
  • Sergeant                          6                         Sergeant                      6
  • Constables                    31.8                       Constables                35
  • Overtime Equivalent         1.1                       Overtime Equivalent  1.1
  • Total Complement       42.9                      Total Complement 44.6
  • Amherstburg Police Complement          Windsor Police Proposed
  • Chief 1                                                        Shall be 30 full time including
  • Deputy 1                                                     the Officer in Charge.
  • Staff Sergeant 0
  • Sergeant 6
  • Constables 23
  • Special Constable 1
  • Total Complement 32                               Total Complement 30