A new police building is one of the key questions Chief Shawn Devine has been asked about during this municipal election campaign. The service released a facility report last November with a recommendation of finding a new home for the North Bay Police.
See related: Police looking for a new home
Devine says they have now prepared a report to the Police Board which will be forwarded to city hall.
“We are right now in the process of preparing information with regards to a 10-year capital budget request for the city so we are in communication with Margaret Karpenko, the CFO to see where we are going,” said Devine.
“The reality is that the building is not getting any better. I have heard the use of the word ‘sinking’ I think that is an over-exaggeration about what is happening. What you have is, the front part on Princess Street is built on solid rock and the back part is built on softer ground and it is settling in different ways and that is resulting in some really big issues that we are going to have to face and it will be expensive whether the decision will be to invest in a new building or continue in this building we have to address those issues.”
Devine says he is impressed at what he is hearing from the candidates so far in this fall’s municipal election.
The North Bay Police Chief was sworn in back in 2016 and is going through his first municipal election.
“They seem to have an honest and true interest in the City of North Bay which I think was really good to hear some of those questions,” said Devine.
The Chief thinks it is important for candidates to be informed considering some of the other changes that may be coming relating to funding with the new provincial government in place.
“I have been approached by a number of new candidates and incumbents asking questions about policing and I think that is great because they have come forward and asked those questions as opposed to going on hearing rumours about the building, but it’s a challenging time for policing and we have committed to making some huge changes within our organization,” continued Devine.
Regardless of who gets in for the upcoming October 22 election, Devine feels there will be more police challenges ahead.
He says the issue of responding to calls was a big concern at a quarterly meeting of the Ontario Chiefs of Police held in Sudbury earlier this week.
“The Toronto Police Service and other services are talking about not responding to certain calls,” said Devine.
“The Toronto Police Service is now talking about, for minor thefts including thefts from liquor or gas stations, that they will not be responding with two officers to those calls. They are looking at cases, such as shoplifting, as providing alternatives. So the day of 'no call too small' for policing across the province has to be realized that if you want that model of policing it is going to be very expensive to continue going forward with that.”
