A conversation around regional police in Essex County didn't go the way Amherstburg's deputy mayor thought it would.
Chris Gibb says he was taken aback by the conversation during Essex County Council on Wednesday night where a report with two options were presented by Amherstburg mayor Michael Prue.
This report stemmed after Windsor City Council voted at the end of December 2024 to end the agreement that had the Windsor Police Service providing policing in the Town of Amherstburg due to increased costs. The service has been provided since January 2019.
Option 1 was to have administration work with local municipalities to explore options for a traditional regional policing model in the county. And Option 2 was to see administration working with municipalities on a collaborative approach to policing in the long term with Ontario Provincial Police - managed by one central command, as a regional body.
However, majority of the mayors and deputy mayors stated they were satisfied with policing in their municipalities, and instead a motion was presented to have administration look into the cost of having a third-party consultant look into how much regional policing would be.
Gibb says he thought the other mayors and deputy mayors would have been more open to the idea of a regional approach.
"Policing is a big expense for every municipality. It's something that residents expect to have excellent police service for their municipality, and I thought they'd be more open to the idea of looking into it."
He says he was taken aback by the comments - especially since these municipalities were facing steep OPP budget increases just a handful of months ago.
"Considering what just happened with all these municipalities, they all got hit with a huge increase from the province. Now the province did come through with some one-time cost offsets, but I mean... we know where this is going. Even the OPP is going to get more and more expensive."
Gibb says he's not giving up hope.
"In Amherstburg, we are looking at every possible solution to this issue. I think we owe it to our residents to leave no stone unturned, and come through with the best possible option for them."
At the end of November 2024, the Ontario government announced over $77-million in financial relief to municipalities to help address the budget impacts resulting from the collective bargaining agreement that was reached between the province and the Ontario Provincial Police Association in July 2024.
The current agreement for policing between the City of Windsor and the Town of Amherstburg will expire on December 31, 2028.