Impossible to track usage of policing office, says OPP

Posted Jan 26, 2012 By J.P. Antonacci

EMC News - Just how much is the OPP community policing office at the North Grenville Public Library (NGPL) actually being used? One councillor wants to know, but the police apparently can't say.

The community policing office was incorporated into the new library, which opened last May, to give police a presence in Old Town Kemptville. In recent months, North Grenville councillor Barb Tobin has repeatedly asked the OPP to report to council how often the office is actually manned by a police officer.

But usage data for the office is "impossible" to compile, said Sgt. Craig McCormick at the Jan. 12 meeting of the North Grenville Police Services Board (NGPSB).

"I'll never be able to provide an accurate number (of hours). It'll never happen," McCormick said.

Some officers do sign the logbook in the office, but not all. "You can't teach an old dog new tricks," he said of the bookkeeping-averse officers. Officers sometimes need to leave suddenly on a call and don't have time to sign out, he added.

McCormick said OPP brass would like to see the office used more, but he thinks the office is doing its job of deterring crime even when unoccupied. Just as an empty cruiser parked on the highway has proven to reduce speeding, he said, the potential for an officer to drop in could make someone planning to commit a crime in Old Town think twice.

"It's the unknown of when's the police car going to show up?" he said.

That rationale doesn't add up for library CEO Sue Higgins, who thinks the increase in foot traffic to Old Town to visit the library itself does more to prevent crime than an empty office.

"(The office) doesn't really add any value to the library, just because we rarely see anybody there," Higgins said.

The office is an "extended service" that is not meant to be constantly occupied, McCormick explained. Community services officer Cathy Lindsey often drops in to work on the computer between visits to local schools or the youth centre. Lindsey admits usage is "sporadic," but thinks it's unrealistic to have an officer stationed inside throughout the day.

The office is primarily used in the evenings and overnight by officers working the night shift, and makes for an ideal spot to meet with youth who might not feel comfortable in the station, she added.

"Ideally, you want (officers) out on patrol, not behind a desk," Lindsey said.

The members of the NGPSB are content with the current usage, but vice-chair Don Sherritt thinks the OPP must communicate better with the public about the function of the community policing office.

"It's really managing expectations," said Sherritt, who thinks establishing a minimum usage target would help the OPP justify the existence of the office and assure the public that it is indeed being used.

"It's not to say we will spend two hours there, for example - it's to say our target is to spend two hours there," he said.

NGPSB has invested heavily in the new office, said chair Bruce Harrison, including $3,000 in furniture and supplies, and an annual expenditure of $4,000, or almost a third of the board's annual budget, on the computer system.

Harrison stressed that the police have to be allowed "flexibility" so officers would not be "put in a pigeonhole" by being forced to be in the office during certain hours. However, he added, "We're trying to put some parameters so we can get a clearer picture of the situation."

Councillor Terry Butler told the board that Old Town business owners appreciate the office as a deterrent to crime.

"If the business community's happy, that's one of our main goals," said mayor David Gordon. "We're not an employee of the library."

Tobin declined to comment until she had reviewed the minutes of the police services board meeting, but Higgins did not hesitate when asked if the library could use the extra space now occupied by the community policing office.

"Yes. We have a plan if that space is ever given up," she said.

jp.antonacci@metroland.com