As North Bay ponders, Midland dumps local police force in favour of OPP

As the controversy continues to swirl around the North Bay council chambers about whether to investigate replacing the local service with the OPP, Midland, just west of Orillia, has taken the plunge.

See: 'Some people don't have a backbone,' King says of OPP costing

And: King gets seconder in OPP costing initiative

See Midland's complete costing document here.

Yesterday, policing responsibilities within the town officially transferred to the Southern Georgian Bay Detachment of the OPP.

"As the detachment commander, I can assure you the men and women of Southern Georgian Bay detachment both uniform and civilian possess a deep sense of commitment to the community and public safety," Inspector Andrew Ferguson said in a news release. "We look forward to serving the citizens of the Town of Midland, becoming your police service and fulfilling the OPP Vision 'Safe Communities, A Secure Ontario.'"

Local Police Assn. President Pete Brunette says it's not true that some members of the NBPS are in favour of becoming OPP because of better pay, better benefits and better pension.

"I strongly disagree with that quote that was taken by one member of the North Bay Police Service saying the majority of members wanted to transfer to the OPP. Absolutely not, because most members of the North Bay Police Service, the civilian members as well as the number of sworn members would lose their employment and they strongly support local policing for North Bay and Callander."

Over one-third of the Midland officers who applied to the OPP were told they would not be receiving job offers. Ten uniformed officers and two civilian employees were left without jobs.

Senior  Cst. Bill Gordon, vice-president of the Midland Police Association tweeted, "Today we learned that 11-12 Midland Police staff will NOT be transitioning to the OPP. The transition is set for Thursday February 8th. Sad news for our policing family. It has been an honour and a privilege to serve Midland for the past 125 years. So many memories."

A release from the town stated, "In total, 31% of MPS employees did not apply for positions with the OPP. As a result, of the 69% who did seek employment, we understand that 78% of the civilian staff and 65% of the uniformed personnel received offers of employment. Members of the MPS who applied and received offers of employment, will be heading to Orillia for four weeks of OPP training."

The North Bay source had another word of caution, "As it stands the city police are obligated to provide no less than eight cops on patrol at any time. I believe that the OPP would have full discretion on how they deploy manpower. So they could conceivably decide the city can be policed with four, they do this in other places. OPP also doesn't enforce bylaws. So those noisy parties, barking dog complaints will pile up unless the city hires a pile of by law enforcement officers."

Midland residents were told the 24-hour Communication Centre is available for non-emergent calls for service and for any emergent life-threatening situation, the 911 operators are always available.

"While the former Midland Police Service members transition to the OPP and receive their training from the OPP's Provincial Police Academy, policing of the Town of Midland will be carried out by existing members of our organization who will provide the public with a professional policing presence until your former officers return," said Ferguson.

"As this transition takes place, I want to assure the public that the level of policing that you previously enjoyed will continue and that the OPP will deliver a proactive and innovative policing model that is inclusive of community-based partnerships."

Meanwhile the OPP says there have been some questions by members of the community expressing concerns about the size and scale of the proposed OPP Policing model and they offer examples of the proposal vs the current Midland Police Service staffing level to answer those concerns.    

The document says, "In reality, the actual number of front line resources the OPP is proposing is higher than the current resource allocation by the Midland Police Service.

"The OPP have assured through the proposal that the town will be serviced by 3 front line officers and a Sergeant 24 hours per day 7 days a week."