PORT HOPE -- A 10-year plan to cut Port Hope policing costs has some residents worried about their safety.
The plan, which would see the elimination of the Port Hope Police Services communications centre and daylight-only police station hours was presented by Port Hope Police Services Board chairwoman, Liz Stewart, during the municipality's committee of the whole meeting Feb. 19 for information purposes.
The Port Hope Police Services Board will be deciding on the plan at its Feb. 21 meeting at the town hall on Queen Street at 3 p.m.
To sustain the Port Hope Police Service, the police budget will be stabilized between 2.5 and 3.95 per cent over the next 10 years for a maximum operating capital budget of $5,106,626 at the end of the period. It will also reduce its officers to 23 from the current 26, strip the communications unit, reorganize civilian staffing and restructure office administration, and increase business and financial capacity, according to the presentation. Ten people in its communications department plus its office manager would be out of jobs by the end of the year as a result.
Resident Douglas Blundell, vice president of the security company Executive Protection Services Group, spoke during the meeting and predicted someone needing help after hours would find no one at the police station, with police out on patrol.
Coun. David Turck said when offices are closed, emergencies can still be addressed by phone.
"I understand how modern dispatch works... my concern is that if my 13-year-old daughter goes there looking for help, she's not going to know to pick up the phone," Mr. Blundell said, followed by applause from about 45 other residents attending.
Ms. Stewart said in a press release the vision of the Port Hope Police Services Board is to create "a newly configured, efficient, sustainable police service staffed by energetic, skilled professionals operating out of a state-of-the-art facility providing innovative, effective service to an engaged and informed community."â?¨ Resident Avril Ewing questioned who will staff the new facility given the severance of 11 employees.
There will still be civilians to staff the front office, just fewer, said Coun. Turck in an interview.â?¨ "I think it's sad for our town," said Ms. Ewing, who is also chairwoman of the Committee to Keep Port Hope Police Service. â?¨ Another resident of the same committee, Dorothy Crawford, added, "Port Hope gives up a lot of things" and said she regrets taxpayers will pay for a facility that won't be open 24 hours a day.â?¨ On top of that, Ms. Ewing added, while she has complete confidence in the Port Hope police force, she feels more comfortable knowing that a 911 call is being answered down the street by someone who knows Port Hope.â?¨ "If you're standing outside somewhere that's on fire, you don't necessarily know the address," she said, adding the call centre might not be able to identify the caller's landmarks. â?¨ Coun. Turck explained the call centre staff are fully trained to extract information from the person calling. He added they are also trained to handle an excited caller, to calm them down in order to draw the necessary information.â?¨ In-house costs were not examined for the Port Hope Police Services Board changes because the municipality can't be spending money when it's looking at savings, which is what council is doing, he said.â?¨ "For almost four months we have been working diligently to scan everything and come back with this budget and this model," he said.
The 10-year plan indicates the Port Hope Police Service Board has legislated responsibility to ensure the municipality is effectively policed and other police services such as Hanover, Pembroke, and Deep River have successfully adopted the same operating model, according to the police services board report.â?¨ Police Chief Kevin McAlpine said this may happen more and more across Ontario and "in the long term, I come to the conclusion that it's inevitable.
"When we started looking at calls for service over the last 10 years, crime over the last 10 years and the average crime calls per officer, it's very obvious the work can be done with 23 officers. This is not a huge drop in service by any stretch and certainly our folks will be able to do the work," he said in an interview following the presentation.