Deputy chief says North Bay police not the most expensive

The North Bay Police Service is not the most expensive among its comparator police services, deputy chief Paul Cook says.

Cook sent out a news release Friday in which he stated, “The Nugget has recently stated on three occasions that the North Bay Police Service is the most expensive amongst its comparator police services in the province. This is to inform the taxpayers of North Bay that this is not so.”

Nugget managing editor John Size could not be reached for comment at the time of this posting.

Taken in perspective
The information The Nugget is drawing from, Cook said, is Police Resources in Canada 2003, a recently released Statistics Canada report.

“Although the figures are correct,” Cook said, “they must be taken in perspective.”

The report, Cook said, warns of comparing one community against another and states that caution should be taken in comparing per-capita costs.

Some costs—accommodation, bylaw enforcement, court security—and some services—computing, personnel and financial services—may be included within the police services operation budgets for certain municipalities.

“But in other municipalities they may be paid for by other departments or through the police service’s capital budget, which is not included,” Cook states in the release.

Some police services, Cook states, fund police officers through external agencies such as an airport authority, a community organization or a casino.

“While these officers are included in the report, the expenditure of these funds is not,” Cook states.

“As a result the cost of policing in these communities is underestimated.”

Not a true measure
The Ontario Association of Law Enforcement Planners, to which the North Bay Police Service is a member, has long stated that the per capita costs are not a true measure, Cook states.

“For example, in a community like North Bay, where we acknowledge an aging population, there are fewer people per household than in a community in Southern Ontario, where young families are in greater numbers,” Cook states.

“Yet there are only taxes paid for each household.”

The truer measure, Cook states, is the cost of policing per household.

“That is why municipal governments across Ontario report the cost per household when completing their annual municipal performance measurement reports,” Cook states.

Not the most expensive
And what affect, Cook asks, does that have on North Bay’s status as the most expensive?

In 2002, the year the report covers, the North Bay Police Service had a cost per person of $188 and a per-household cost of $417.

“Brantford had a cost per person of $151 and a per-household cost of $434. Sault Ste. Marie, $185 per person and $467 per household,” Cook states.

“So we’re not the most expensive. It’s a simple matter of population demographics. We have less people per household than the others. We collect taxes per household. Therefore the household is paying less in North Bay than the other two communities.”

Factors to consider
Cook states there are a number of factors to consider when looking at the issue including: population density—large areas that are sparsely populated are more expensive to police than dense urban areas; geography—Northern Ontario police services have traditionally been higher than southern Ontario; and populations per police officer numbers—there are more police officers per 100,000 residents in Northern Ontario cities and therefore higher costs, due to remoteness and need for available personnel.

“We are funded for the most part by the municipal taxpayer,” Cook states.

“These taxes are assessed through property taxes on households, not on the population or the number of people living in that home. Therefore, the household paying property taxes in North Bay is paying less for policing than the household in Sault Ste. Marie or Brantford.”