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Letter: It's time to obtain a quote for policing from the OPP

'The new arena is a discretionary project and questionable at best.  The funds already collected from taxpayers for this project could be put toward a new OPP headquarters'
2022-emergency-response-team-north-bay-police-truck-2-dawson
North Bay Police Emergency Response trailer

Editor's note: Mr. Rennick makes reference to the BayToday story, Survey says opioid and drug crimes are top police concerns in North Bay.

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To the editor:

The 2021 survey conducted by the police department, supposedly, contacted 500 people about police services. Typically, the questions were loaded to generate the desired responses. For example, responders were asked to choose which of five different “patrols” they would like to see “more of” in North Bay. The top two choices were cruiser and foot patrols.

The question is purposefully vague since does not indicate if responders are indicating a desire for more officers or more officers out patrolling rather than performing other duties. There is no option available for responders who thought that patrol numbers are adequate. There is no indication as to the number of patrols being considered and what the cost would be.

There is no indication that increased patrols have resulted in a reduction in crime in the past. In spite of this lack of detail, the department took the survey results to mean that the public expressed a desire for “increased police presence” and then drew a direct line from that assumption to support the hiring of more officers.

The survey focused on responders’ perception of their safety in the community and identified drug use as a top-of-mind concern. The increase in concern has increased substantially for all crime categories since the last survey in 2015.

The police department investigates crime after it occurs and police officers are just one of many factors that can affect the crime rate. The police budget has risen by 56% over the last 10 years and according to the 2020 data from Stats Canada, North Bay has a total crime rate that is 55% above the national rate.

Budget increases are admittedly driven by increases in payroll costs and have not resulted in any reduction in crime rates. This survey does not in any way support the hiring of more officers any more than hiring more firefighters would reduce fires.

The population in North Bay has actually decreased in the last decade but police budgets continue to increase without any benefits to the public. The mayor’s blanket support of these increases instead of looking for a more effective and less expensive solution is unfortunately typical. We can not afford the increasing cost of this service regardless of its effectiveness or lack of it.

It's time to obtain a quote for policing from the OPP. The new arena is a discretionary project and questionable at best.  The funds already collected from taxpayers for this project could be put toward a new OPP headquarters.

Donald Rennick CPA, CA

North Bay,