Once the new OPP detachment office opens its doors in the Horne Business Park in West Ridge, there will be no satellite office in downtown Orillia – for at least a year.
Council had requested a staff report following the announcement from Infrastructure Ontario that they had purchased land in west Orillia and would move their base of operations from the outdated facility on Peter Street that they have outgrown.
“Staff, in consultation with the Police Services Board and the detachment commander (Insp. Veronica Eaton), explored the feasibility of establishing a community services office in the downtown core,” Kristine Preston, the city’s deputy clerk, told councillors Monday night. “The detachment commander has assured staff that when the detachment office relocates to the Horne Business Park, officers will continue to maintain a highly visible police presence in the downtown with routine foot, vehicle and bicycle patrols.”
Preston said the “next term of council as well as BIA merchants and the public are asked to observe the level of police presence in the downtown for one year … to determine if a community service office or a satellite office is warranted.”
Coun. Ralph Cipolla, a long-time downtown merchant, reiterated his concerns about the plan. “I have some serious concerns about the OPP not having some kind of representation in the downtown area,” he said. “It’s an obligation, I think, the OPP have to us to have some kind of office within the downtown because the majority of calls they get are from the downtown area.”
The OPP detachment is used by citizens to report incidents, acts as a collision reporting centre and processes criminal records, vulnerable sector reports, fingerprint checks and answers general inquiries. Cipolla said it could prove difficult for some to get to west Orillia to access those services.
Preston noted the OPP offers a citizen-reporting system that can be accessed online or via phone, but Cipolla argued many don’t have access to computers. “I think we need some kind of access for our vulnerable sector,” he said.
Coun. Pat Hehn said an office would not necessarily answer those concerns. “The majority of calls do happen in the downtown, but most calls happen outside of the hours when the detachment is open, anyhow, so it wouldn’t help,” said Hehn. “It’s only for one year. Let’s see how it works.”
A future council has two options if it determines a downtown presence is required. They could choose to open a community service office (CSO) or a satellite office. A CSO would only be open when officers periodically attend to complete paperwork or conduct interviews; no administrative staff would be required. A satellite office would have regular hours (i.e. Monday to Friday from 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.) and would be home to one or two officers with an option for administrative staff. In both cases, the city would have to provide the space, furniture, phone etc. If the satellite office option was chosen, this would be considered a “service enhancement” and would have to be discussed as part of the policing contract negotiation in 2020 and could lead to “substantial costs increases.”
For now, the first year will be observed before any decisions are made. The OPP detachment in west Orillia is expected to be operational by 2020.