Owen-sound-police Police-board Meeting Transcript — September 23, 2026

00:04:41 SPEAKER_001: A meeting to order, maybe?

00:04:43 SPEAKER_002: That you can.

00:04:44 SPEAKER_002: No, I can.

00:04:44 SPEAKER_002: Okay, good.

00:04:45 SPEAKER_002: Thanks.

00:04:45 SPEAKER_002: I'd like to respectfully acknowledge that we are meeting on traditional lands of the First Nations that have been inhabited by Indigenous peoples from the beginning.

00:04:54 SPEAKER_002: In particular, I acknowledge the history, spirituality, and culture of the territory of the Anishinaabeg Nation, the people of the Three Fires known as the Ojibwe, Odawa, and Potawatomi Nation,

00:05:04 SPEAKER_002: and further give thanks to the Chipewyan of Sauguen and the Chipewyan of Nawash, known collectively as the Sauguen Ojibwe Nation, as the traditional keepers of this land.

00:05:13 SPEAKER_002: We recognize and deeply appreciate the historic connection to this area, as well as the contributions of the Métis, Inuit, and other Indigenous peoples whose ancestors shared these lands and waters.

00:05:23 SPEAKER_002: May we live with respect for each other on this land and live in peace and friendship with all diverse peoples.

00:05:29 SPEAKER_002: May we move on to the agenda.

00:05:34 SPEAKER_002: Any additions or deletions or motions?

00:05:38 SPEAKER_002: Mary.

00:05:39 SPEAKER_002: Thank you.

00:05:41 SPEAKER_002: Seconder, Carol.

00:05:42 SPEAKER_002: All in favour?

00:05:46 SPEAKER_002: Hearing.

00:05:50 SPEAKER_002: Any declaration of conflict of interest arising out of the minutes and matters listed on the agenda?

00:05:55 SPEAKER_002: Hearing none.

00:05:56 SPEAKER_002: We have no presentations, deputations, or public questions.

00:05:59 SPEAKER_002: This open session: confirmation of the minutes of the public session held June 24th.

00:06:06 SPEAKER_002: Fine.

00:06:08 SPEAKER_002: Thank you.

00:06:09 SPEAKER_002: Seconder, Carol.

00:06:11 SPEAKER_002: Thank you.

00:06:12 SPEAKER_002: All in favour?

00:06:14 SPEAKER_002: Very.

00:06:15 SPEAKER_002: Any business arising out of the public session minutes of June?

00:06:18 SPEAKER_002: I can't remember that far back.

00:06:20 SPEAKER_002: I had to read the notes.

00:06:22 SPEAKER_002: What went on?

00:06:24 SPEAKER_002: Under correspondence received, we have the annual report, or the April to June report from Crime Stoppers of Great Bruce.

00:06:33 SPEAKER_002: We also have the Inspector General's number 12 release of the general policing and 2025 annual report.

00:06:41 SPEAKER_002: And just for those who read it,

00:06:43 SPEAKER_002: they probably saw on page 45 of that report there was a shout-out to the governance practice for Owen Sound regarding reviewing the four-year operations plan on a semi-annual basis.

00:06:58 SPEAKER_002: Item C was the opioid situation report, tabled to June 2026.

00:07:04 SPEAKER_002: There was a Women's and Youth Services Centre, Great Bruce Community Bulletin annual report.

00:07:07 SPEAKER_002: An annual report, and also an email regarding drug problems we're experiencing in the downtown.

00:07:16 SPEAKER_002: No questions on any of those reports.

00:07:18 SPEAKER_002: We'll move on to my report.

00:07:20 SPEAKER_002: October 1st, there is a PGO board meeting.

00:07:25 SPEAKER_002: It will be via Zoom.

00:07:28 SPEAKER_002: Tuesday, October 6th, 2026.

00:07:31 SPEAKER_002: Once on police services hosting Zone Five meeting at the Sydenham campus.

00:07:35 SPEAKER_002: Set the tone.

00:07:36 SPEAKER_002: Okay.

00:07:36 SPEAKER_002: Excellent.

00:07:36 SPEAKER_002: Okay, and so I'm hoping all board members can attend that.

00:07:43 SPEAKER_002: Also, we have responded to the IOP's province-wide inspection and their request for information.

00:07:49 SPEAKER_002: This effort was led by Deputy Bishop, and a cast of thousands supporting you on that.

00:07:56 SPEAKER_002: And this was submitted to the IOP's office before the deadline of September 8th.

00:08:01 SPEAKER_002: And Deputy, do any comments on that?

00:08:05 SPEAKER_015: The only comment I have is so far I've heard nothing, and some other services have, so I think that's a good thing.

00:08:11 SPEAKER_015: I'm hoping that's a good sign.

00:08:12 SPEAKER_015: Yes.

00:08:14 SPEAKER_015: Thanks, Hank.

00:08:14 SPEAKER_015: Thanks, Devin and Roses.

00:08:21 SPEAKER_015: They will contact us.

00:08:23 SPEAKER_015: Of course.

00:08:24 SPEAKER_015: Yeah.

00:08:24 SPEAKER_015: There's a phase two.

00:08:28 SPEAKER_002: Whether there are any issues they want to further address?

00:08:33 SPEAKER_002: As you said, nobody else has contacted you, so it's a good sign.

00:08:38 SPEAKER_002: Okay, number ten, governance.

00:08:40 SPEAKER_002: I have nothing to really report on the governance.

00:08:42 SPEAKER_002: Hank, do you have anything?

00:08:44 SPEAKER_002: Board of Chair, mention a couple short things.

00:08:46 SPEAKER_002: Sure.

00:08:47 SPEAKER_002: The notice of issue that was sent out in July.

00:08:50 SPEAKER_002: It's kind of taken up a new life now, given the advancement of availability recently.

00:08:56 SPEAKER_004: So it does apply to services not always in the GTA area available.

00:09:02 SPEAKER_004: Yeah.

00:09:03 SPEAKER_004: I would just encourage the board to review that notice of issue.

00:09:05 SPEAKER_004: And there are seven action points.

00:09:11 SPEAKER_004: Which bulletin was that number?

00:09:13 SPEAKER_004: I'm not sure.

00:09:14 SPEAKER_004: The IG memo was a notice of issue in July.

00:09:16 SPEAKER_004: I can resend it to you.

00:09:17 SPEAKER_004: Okay, sure.

00:09:19 SPEAKER_004: The last bullet point refers to strategic planning, which I don't have any right now for this board.

00:09:24 SPEAKER_004: We're in the midst of it, right?

00:09:26 SPEAKER_004: Perfect.

00:09:26 SPEAKER_004: So it's maybe a good chance to incorporate that last bullet point into your strategic planning.

00:09:32 SPEAKER_006: And just for the rest of the board, the issue they raised about Belleville.

00:09:36 SPEAKER_004: Oh yeah, sorry, there was an officer shot in Belleville.

00:09:41 SPEAKER_004: As I understand, there was returned fire, and the suspect has since passed.

00:09:44 SPEAKER_004: Yes, doing some sort of security or paid duty event.

00:09:50 SPEAKER_007: I don't know the details on it, just what the day is.

00:09:52 SPEAKER_007: I think the officer was shot.

00:09:54 SPEAKER_007: Was he not?

00:09:55 SPEAKER_008: He was in ICU, but he's still recovering.

00:09:57 SPEAKER_008: Don't you?

00:09:58 SPEAKER_009: Being the chief there yesterday, he got an email that the officers expect a big recovery and do well.

00:10:06 SPEAKER_009: The suspect just passed away.

00:10:08 SPEAKER_009: They were doing a paid duty outside of a synagogue in Melville for celebrations.

00:10:15 SPEAKER_009: So, and we are already working with our local synagogue.

00:10:18 SPEAKER_009: My folks, they've collaborated on a grant that we are waiting to work, waiting to receive confirmation on.

00:10:25 SPEAKER_009: And we also been doing paid duties with... so we're all connected.

00:10:27 SPEAKER_009: So we're well connected with that.

00:10:29 SPEAKER_009: I would have thought that this was a PTA issue.

00:10:33 SPEAKER_009: Clearly, it's not.

00:10:34 SPEAKER_009: So they're not the ones.

00:10:35 SPEAKER_009: So that wasn't an issue.

00:10:37 SPEAKER_009: IDIG is handling it.

00:10:39 SPEAKER_009: It's what's been doing for sure.

00:10:41 SPEAKER_018: Yeah.

00:10:42 SPEAKER_018: There's no doubt that we're hearing from members of the community who are very frightened, very fearful, and I think the actions of the police services to work so closely with them is very well received.

00:10:54 SPEAKER_018: So that's great.

00:10:56 SPEAKER_018: My question is around strategic planning in relation to incidents like this.

00:11:02 SPEAKER_018: When we are developing our strategic plan, do we benchmark with other police services who may have directions already established around incidents like happen in Belleville, but not just in Belleville?

00:11:17 SPEAKER_018: I mean, we've had incidents here in Owen Sound as well.

00:11:21 SPEAKER_018: How do we benchmark and compare so that we're offering our residents the same services and strategic view as others?

00:11:31 SPEAKER_018: Great.

00:11:31 SPEAKER_018: You speak to that?

00:11:34 SPEAKER_009: Well, as far as benchmarking and talking about others, I mean, we've done a number of things.

00:11:40 SPEAKER_009: We've joined the hate crime enforcement investigative team for the province.

00:11:45 SPEAKER_009: We've worked with the local community on some cameras and some things like that.

00:11:50 SPEAKER_009: Yeah, providing security with them rather than that grant, I think we're doing all the right things.

00:11:58 SPEAKER_009: It's difficult to predict something like that's going to happen.

00:12:01 SPEAKER_009: We have been providing paid duties for our local community, and working with them to keep it at a reasonable cost because of their fears.

00:12:11 SPEAKER_009: Yeah, and obviously it's well founded.

00:12:14 SPEAKER_009: If it happened in Belleville, it could happen here.

00:12:16 SPEAKER_009: Yes, but as far as you know, how do you benchmark it?

00:12:21 SPEAKER_009: What do you do?

00:12:21 SPEAKER_009: I'm not sure what else.

00:12:23 SPEAKER_009: Well, we don't have the resources to dedicate to that individually without paid duties, and no one from there.

00:12:35 SPEAKER_009: It's really kind of difficult.

00:12:39 SPEAKER_009: Thank you.

00:12:39 SPEAKER_009: There's literally no warning.

00:12:42 SPEAKER_009: Right, right.

00:12:43 SPEAKER_009: And I know certainly community initiatives, neighbourhood watch, those sorts of vigilant—not vigilante—I don't mean that, but just being vigilant and having Facebook posts.

00:12:58 SPEAKER_018: Yes, yes, that sort of thing.

00:13:01 SPEAKER_018: Because I think all of us together can work together to keep everyone safe in our community, and obviously the policing leads the way.

00:13:11 SPEAKER_018: Thank you.

00:13:14 SPEAKER_018: City Attorney, all of the things they have, it's hard to make decisions.

00:13:17 SPEAKER_018: We just encourage the board to keep up with the Chief of Police and the Inspector General decision.

00:13:23 SPEAKER_018: Thirty been released today.

00:13:24 SPEAKER_018: Five more coming out this Friday.

00:13:27 SPEAKER_004: They are related.

00:13:29 SPEAKER_004: Remember to discuss that.

00:13:30 SPEAKER_004: There have been findings now on clients in these services.

00:13:34 SPEAKER_004: So sure you're already doing it.

00:13:36 SPEAKER_004: Just a friendly reminder to please keep up to date on those IG decisions.

00:13:41 SPEAKER_004: Okay.

00:13:41 SPEAKER_004: We're going to comment the Zoom meeting.

00:13:43 SPEAKER_004: I'll do a presentation.

00:13:44 SPEAKER_004: Oh, cool.

00:13:45 SPEAKER_004: More in depth.

00:13:45 SPEAKER_004: Okay.

00:13:46 SPEAKER_004: Good.

00:13:47 SPEAKER_004: I have read every single one that's come out and figured where they need to go and making changes as required.

00:13:53 SPEAKER_004: Do you tracking that policy changes?

00:13:55 SPEAKER_004: Yes, I've got it in the back yet, but I've made that request.

00:13:59 SPEAKER_004: All I have, sir.

00:14:05 SPEAKER_004: Okay, good.

00:14:05 SPEAKER_004: Any questions of Hank?

00:14:06 SPEAKER_004: Okay, moving on to operational reports.

00:14:10 SPEAKER_004: Number eight CIB report.

00:14:15 SPEAKER_011: Thank you, Jerry.

00:14:17 SPEAKER_011: The CIB unit.

00:14:18 SPEAKER_011: So these reports encompass the months of July and August, so they're quite lengthy.

00:14:24 SPEAKER_011: But I'll touch on some of the highlights for the CIB unit.

00:14:28 SPEAKER_011: They conducted several noteworthy investigations: sexual assaults, frauds, etc. Over the course of those summer months, a couple noteworthy ones to touch on.

00:14:39 SPEAKER_011: There were two drug investigations conducted in which search warrants were executed in the downtown area.

00:14:45 SPEAKER_011: The first one on June 25th, warrants executed.

00:14:50 SPEAKER_011: Two individuals were arrested.

00:14:52 SPEAKER_011: Thirty-six grams of fentanyl was seized, along with about a street value of about fifteen thousand dollars, as well as seven thousand dollars in cash.

00:15:02 SPEAKER_011: Later on July 1st, a second warrant was done, and two hundred and fourteen grams of fentanyl was seized, along with one hundred twelve grams of cocaine, fifty-two grams of crystal meth,

00:15:12 SPEAKER_011: twelve hundred dollars in cash proceeds.

00:15:15 SPEAKER_011: The estimated total street value is almost one hundred ten thousand dollars, so that was a win over the operation.

00:15:22 SPEAKER_011: Also, over the summer, unfortunately, we the CIB unit investigated two sudden deaths that are believed to be caused by drug toxicity.

00:15:31 SPEAKER_011: Just waiting for confirmation from toxicology results to confirm that, but all indications are that we did unfortunately two of those deaths over the summer.

00:15:42 SPEAKER_011: And a fraud investigation.

00:15:44 SPEAKER_011: There was a romance scam over the summer, which victim, unfortunately, was defrauded of over a hundred thousand dollars worth of finances.

00:15:55 SPEAKER_011: Some investigation.

00:15:59 SPEAKER_011: Moving on to the MHR unit.

00:16:02 SPEAKER_011: There's some statistics there for the three months: June, July, and August.

00:16:06 SPEAKER_011: A lot of incident response.

00:16:10 SPEAKER_011: Situations where an officer and an MHR worker and an officer responded to scenes of persons in crisis and assisted whatever intervention was necessary for that person.

00:16:26 SPEAKER_024: Just when they talk about that, there's often they say that an MHR worker could go along with that officer, but that's not really practical, is it?

00:16:34 SPEAKER_011: I don't believe it is.

00:16:36 SPEAKER_011: No, that's not the model that we have here.

00:16:41 SPEAKER_011: We create a lot of savings incentives for that individual.

00:16:51 SPEAKER_011: Update about the Amherst programme as well.

00:16:55 SPEAKER_011: CMHA is looking to hire a second.

00:16:57 SPEAKER_011: They're just in the process of trying to get a second person to some programme.

00:17:07 SPEAKER_011: There are currently no missing persons being investigated on Sound.

00:17:12 SPEAKER_011: The Bail Compliance and Warrant Apprehension Unit was active during the summer months.

00:17:19 SPEAKER_011: Some statistics there of note: there were twenty-six warrant arrests that unit over the summer, as well as twenty-two charges laid.

00:17:29 SPEAKER_011: They also participated in several compliance checks for persons out on bail, as well as persons on sex offender registry.

00:17:37 SPEAKER_011: The core unit conducted a total of 110 hours of foot patrol, predominantly in the downtown corridor, months of the summer, and late ten drug arrests slash drug charges.

00:17:58 SPEAKER_011: In addition, the core unit participated in several community events.

00:18:03 SPEAKER_011: That made this special slot: One World Festival, family fun day, drone show.

00:18:12 SPEAKER_011: Wells participated in Saving Sound Pretty Barbecue.

00:18:19 SPEAKER_011: Moving on to the Teller's Wing.

00:18:22 SPEAKER_011: Three months worth of statistics included in the report.

00:18:25 SPEAKER_011: In June, there was a total of 130 volunteer hours contributed, as well as an additional 78 at specific community events.

00:18:36 SPEAKER_011: In July, there was 133 and a half hours, as well as 52 hours at community events.

00:18:44 SPEAKER_011: August, 159 and a half hours, as well as 21 and a half community events.

00:18:55 SPEAKER_011: Justin Le Brown also contributed an additional 15 hours doing car seat inspections for the community.

00:19:02 SPEAKER_011: The front-line patrol report, as well as collisions statistics for this summer compared to last summer are listed.

00:19:17 SPEAKER_011: Of note, there's substantially more Highway Traffic Act charges late summer as opposed to last summer.

00:19:24 SPEAKER_011: However, criminal charges were notably decreased this summer, and then you see that.

00:19:27 SPEAKER_011: And then you can see that patrol hours.

00:19:30 SPEAKER_012: There was an extra sixty foot patrol hours done this summer last summer.

00:19:36 SPEAKER_011: There's some statistics there about court security.

00:19:38 SPEAKER_011: You can see that 569 hours of part-time officer time was moved from the street to the courthouse,

00:19:46 SPEAKER_011: and that staff only started to be tracked because we only began that programme with the direction of the office.

00:19:53 SPEAKER_011: So there's 500 hours last August, but 569 this summer.

00:20:03 SPEAKER_011: Ride statistics: three months' worth of statistics for ride.

00:20:08 SPEAKER_011: A total of twenty-seven ride programmes conducted over the summer, involving numerous officers, approximately twelve to thirteen hundred drivers checked, and forty-five roadside breath tested.

00:20:26 SPEAKER_011: Mission that those duties as well as regular patrol duties resulted in ten impaired driving charges for June, July, and August.

00:20:37 SPEAKER_011: Collision statistics, month over month, you can see statistics for June, July, and August.

00:20:44 SPEAKER_011: The numbers, as always, are fairly consistent.

00:20:47 SPEAKER_011: The only thing I would highlight for August is there seemed to be quite a few less collisions in the city in August comparatively month over month in last August.

00:20:57 SPEAKER_011: With only thirty-one admissions, just to see fifty from four forty-six last August.

00:21:02 SPEAKER_011: So I'm not sure exactly to attribute that to, but I'm still good.

00:21:11 SPEAKER_011: A report from the Community Services Officer.

00:21:13 SPEAKER_011: Sorry, just should note that in August of this summer, we posted an individual to the courthouse as a full-time officer.

00:21:22 SPEAKER_009: As a full-time officer at court, so that freed up our part-time officers to go and do what we anticipate they should be doing,

00:21:28 SPEAKER_009: and that is proactive work downtown and assisting with officer service for our priority.

00:21:35 SPEAKER_020: That'll be full-time, a full-time basis.

00:21:37 SPEAKER_020: So yeah, that's our part-time back on the street.

00:21:41 SPEAKER_020: Should be.

00:21:43 SPEAKER_020: Uh, the Community Services Officer report.

00:21:46 SPEAKER_020: Uh, he's got a list of his social media involvement as well as particular media releases; he made 86 social media posts over the summer.

00:21:58 SPEAKER_011: Lots of community engagement, work with provincial committees, and then you can see that he did a lot of community presentations and training.

00:22:08 SPEAKER_011: There's a list of them there.

00:22:12 SPEAKER_011: A lot of outreach stuff for safety with schools, preparation, leadership stuff.

00:22:20 SPEAKER_011: Also attended some community events: part of street sale painting, Air Canada Day, coastal beach barbecue, etc.

00:22:30 SPEAKER_011: Training activity for the summer training typically slows a little bit; summer months is not courses offered.

00:22:40 SPEAKER_011: However, our training officer did administer our Special Constable training programme for four new Special Constable hires.

00:22:49 SPEAKER_011: There's academics, practicals, defence tactics, and examination at the end.

00:22:54 SPEAKER_011: All four vigils were successful in the programme and were certified as becoming Special Constables.

00:23:02 SPEAKER_011: In June, investigating a member of the CID branch attended a week-long investigators course.

00:23:11 SPEAKER_011: They had about the emerging frauds and frauds that were seen come in.

00:23:15 SPEAKER_011: Then we get likely another member attending that same course.

00:23:20 SPEAKER_011: We had a representative attend for us in Big Terminal operating this course.

00:23:25 SPEAKER_011: And in June, our training officer did an orientation training grade with our new Constable.

00:23:30 SPEAKER_011: He was just returning from OBC, and then they'll begin the OBC training programme.

00:23:42 SPEAKER_011: Finally, the training officer also completed a certification training course on how to use Shovel Run,

00:23:47 SPEAKER_011: so it's actually a kind of an important part of our recruiting process to make sure that the candidates that we're considering are capable of completing that portion of the qualifications.

00:24:01 SPEAKER_011: I have a slides report a little later on, but get to that.

00:24:10 SPEAKER_013: Moving on to any questions for you before we move on.

00:24:16 SPEAKER_014: Records Courts final.

00:24:18 SPEAKER_014: I can look after that one.

00:24:22 SPEAKER_015: So over the summer, you can actually see that the bulk record checks have gone up substantially.

00:24:28 SPEAKER_015: We're up thirty-three percent on record check, which is good thing because those are one of the revenue-generating items that we have here.

00:24:38 SPEAKER_015: And the other thing, slight decrease, about a fifteen percent decrease in persons charged.

00:24:43 SPEAKER_015: I think we're still seeing the impact of our pre-charge consultation system that we put in place with the Crown Resident here in the station.

00:24:55 SPEAKER_015: So we did expect to see some reduction in the number of people getting charged as a result of that.

00:24:59 SPEAKER_015: I think that's what you're seeing there.

00:25:03 SPEAKER_015: As the Chief mentioned, we transitioned the part-time officers out.

00:25:08 SPEAKER_015: I think it was around August 24th.

00:25:10 SPEAKER_015: August 24th, or and we now have a full-time officer assigned to the courts, so he'll take the place of the part-timers.

00:25:18 SPEAKER_015: We will still be utilising the part-time officers a couple of days a week for the Racial Fences Act court, which is separate from our criminal court.

00:25:29 SPEAKER_015: As we move forward, so there is still some draw there, but it'll be greatly reduced and allows us to put those officers back out either downtown doing foot patrol, assisting with minor calls,

00:25:41 SPEAKER_015: or doing traffic as we intended them to be.

00:25:47 SPEAKER_015: Other than that, there aren't really a lot of substantive.

00:25:58 SPEAKER_015: The four new part-time specials that Inspector Mathis and talked about getting trained are all up at the courts now, and they're doing their basically on-the-job training.

00:26:07 SPEAKER_015: On-the-job training.

00:26:09 SPEAKER_015: By the end of this month, they should be working on their own, and that's essentially it for the report.

00:26:19 SPEAKER_016: Okay.

00:26:20 SPEAKER_016: Moving on to Tom.

00:26:22 SPEAKER_016: Tom, sit in.

00:26:23 SPEAKER_016: Okay.

00:26:25 SPEAKER_016: Okay.

00:26:30 SPEAKER_015: So I always find this one interesting because it speaks a lot to our workload and the same trends that we've been seeing, basically all along, are continuing here.

00:26:40 SPEAKER_015: So, in that very first chart, there's a lot of numbers there.

00:26:44 SPEAKER_015: The thing I've been seeing over the last number of reports that you've been putting in is there's always been a slight decline, as you can see.

00:26:54 SPEAKER_015: The top chart is all the other services that we dispatch for, and in general, we're seeing reductions in the call numbers there, and always the outliers along the bottom: our own cat events.

00:27:06 SPEAKER_015: And you can see we're up four and a half percent again, where everybody else is starting to see declines in the calls.

00:27:12 SPEAKER_015: So that's been typical of unfortunately what we see here: year over year, we continue to see increases in the number of calls.

00:27:20 SPEAKER_015: And there's a later report that I think will tie into this one that marched on up, which is the Stats Canada crime stats that are out for 2025.

00:27:30 SPEAKER_015: So you're also going to see some increases in there that should be a little concerning to us, but again, we continue to get busier, and that doesn't stop.

00:27:41 SPEAKER_015: And that's not something that we control.

00:27:42 SPEAKER_015: That's just the calls that come in that require service for us.

00:27:47 SPEAKER_015: So, so you can see your daily dispatch rates on there.

00:27:56 SPEAKER_015: We—I know—the Chief and I had some emails going back and forth over the summer because we saw some of the few days there where we'd never seen that kind of call volume before.

00:28:04 SPEAKER_015: I think we almost hit 90 calls in the 24-hour window one day, which was—you know—typically we run 60 to 80 in the summertime,

00:28:15 SPEAKER_015: and we're really starting to see some of those days that are really pushing the envelope for our ability to respond to them.

00:28:21 SPEAKER_015: So it isn't slowing down anytime soon for us.

00:28:26 SPEAKER_015: What typically would these calls be?

00:28:28 SPEAKER_015: Last weekend there was like 200 calls.

00:28:31 SPEAKER_015: Yeah, I was doing a little bit of work actually with looking at some Brockville stuff, and because the grants that you just signed there needed a bunch of data,

00:28:40 SPEAKER_015: with Mark being sidelined a little bit, one of the ones that really surprised me was our mental health calls.

00:28:48 SPEAKER_015: So, out of our entire call volume for a year, mental health is making up almost twelve percent of our call volume right now.

00:28:56 SPEAKER_015: So we had something like 2,200 mental health calls.

00:29:03 SPEAKER_015: I was also looking at just some stuff from Brockville, just because I was doing a little research too.

00:29:08 SPEAKER_015: And Brockville is our closest comparator; same number of offices, almost the same number of calls.

00:29:13 SPEAKER_015: And I just looked at their 2025 annual report, and they were in and around 500 mental health-related calls, so we're like four times the volume of that.

00:29:22 SPEAKER_015: And those are the ones that unfortunately take us the most amount of time.

00:29:26 SPEAKER_015: So, Spectramat: Inspector Matheson has a process with the hospital where he follows up on any of our calls that are taking longer up there where we have to sit.

00:29:35 SPEAKER_015: And it seems to be every time you're sending it off, we're adding more and more to it because the hospital's getting busier and they're having more trouble getting us out on time.

00:29:43 SPEAKER_015: So it's all those sorts of things that are just taking up our time.

00:29:46 SPEAKER_015: And when it's somebody that's violent, there's two officers sitting up there with them for multiple hours waiting for that to be released, and that's that's really tough.

00:29:55 SPEAKER_015: Can't just look at call volume like what we show you here.

00:29:58 SPEAKER_015: I mean,

00:29:58 SPEAKER_015: it needs a bigger look where you actually look and see what are those calls because we're seeing more and more increase in terms of our violent crime severity rate and things like that that you'll

00:30:08 SPEAKER_015: see in your next report.

00:30:09 SPEAKER_015: But we're all pointing in the wrong direction as far as you know what we're seeing and why we're different here.

00:30:17 SPEAKER_015: It's not like a nuisance call.

00:30:18 SPEAKER_015: There will always be some of those, but they only take fifteen minutes to clear where the hospital.

00:30:24 SPEAKER_015: Yeah, that's one of the year-over-year things that we see, where the charge volumes keep going up, and that sort of thing.

00:30:30 SPEAKER_015: And those are the types of calls that take an officer off the road for a day to process those things, or the mental health calls, and those types.

00:30:38 SPEAKER_015: We just had a stabbing yesterday that's going to result in an attempted murder charge.

00:30:44 SPEAKER_015: You know, it's those types.

00:30:46 SPEAKER_015: The—you saw—the media releases for the sawed-off shotgun and the firearms offence from a couple of weeks prior, where we had a bunch of firearms seized.

00:30:52 SPEAKER_015: That's RMCs.

00:30:53 SPEAKER_015: That's those are the things five or six years ago they were sort of the once every number months kind of thing, and it was an anomaly.

00:31:01 SPEAKER_015: And yeah, we're starting to see the increases picking up there, which all adds in.

00:31:10 SPEAKER_015: As far as IT, the IT department is continuing on with their NG9-1-1 updates.

00:31:18 SPEAKER_015: Goddard Fire was updated to digital radio.

00:31:21 SPEAKER_015: Updated new digital radio system.

00:31:24 SPEAKER_015: First Nations Fire Department has requested assistance from our communication centre, and currently looking at what that would look like for them.

00:31:35 SPEAKER_015: We had a vacant IT position, which has now been filled, so we have a new IT member that has been here for a couple of weeks now and getting up to speed.

00:31:44 SPEAKER_015: Currently looking at research into a new ADS.

00:31:49 SPEAKER_015: Research into a new CAD system.

00:31:57 SPEAKER_015: Most of the NG9-1-1 final certifications were completed.

00:32:01 SPEAKER_015: All agencies are now reached 100% certification.

00:32:03 SPEAKER_015: The remaining work being just assisting agencies scheduling their cutovers and any of their administrative stuff that's going to associate with that.

00:32:10 SPEAKER_015: So, this new system grows our NG9-1-1 coverage in the province to approximately 450,000 citizens.

00:32:16 SPEAKER_015: So, that's fairly substantial.

00:32:18 SPEAKER_015: It speaks to the size of that business that's being run off the corner of the Juice Desk, and it's probably in the later HR report.

00:32:32 SPEAKER_015: But we have a new time and attendance, basically an HRIS system that's gone in called OSL.

00:32:39 SPEAKER_015: So IT had a little bit of work got out for them there because I think we're the first ones on that programme to use time clock, punch clock sort of system.

00:32:48 SPEAKER_015: They had to do very bit of work to get that integrated.

00:32:51 SPEAKER_015: So, Chief, anything else on the comms or IT side?

00:32:56 SPEAKER_015: No. For the HR side of things, you mentioned OSL was a significant project.

00:33:11 SPEAKER_009: Started earlier in the year, and we're hoping to get it done by June, but there were some issues with PunchBox and coordination.

00:33:20 SPEAKER_009: But it's now alive.

00:33:22 SPEAKER_009: Went live on September the eighth.

00:33:25 SPEAKER_009: That there were some issues as well with the city and having the reporting to the city, so that the information coming from our modern system, dumping into their antiquated system, actually worked.

00:33:38 SPEAKER_009: But that has been remedied, I believe.

00:33:41 SPEAKER_009: So we can do it automatically.

00:33:42 SPEAKER_009: It doesn't have to be done manually.

00:33:43 SPEAKER_009: It has been done manually like it has been since I've been here and prior to that,

00:33:47 SPEAKER_009: where all the information that could have been dumped into the system had to be put into an Excel spreadsheet and flipped over to them.

00:33:57 SPEAKER_009: So it was a lot of added work and repetition, and that hopefully is gone as well.

00:34:02 SPEAKER_009: It's a lot more user-friendly for the members.

00:34:04 SPEAKER_009: They're able to book time off, receive emails, receive notifications, all those different things through the same system.

00:34:11 SPEAKER_009: So it also tracks all of our courses and things like that, so that individuals have current, updated information.

00:34:20 SPEAKER_009: So there's still a lot of work to be done on this project, putting all the information into the back end of it.

00:34:25 SPEAKER_009: And we had some people who were working that were injured on duty that were doing some of that work and putting the information in.

00:34:32 SPEAKER_009: But that continues to be a job or portion of this implementation.

00:34:38 SPEAKER_009: So that was a significant development, and hopefully everybody's got eight last week, and everything continues this week, and then finishes.

00:34:47 SPEAKER_009: Need to duplicate the system.

00:34:50 SPEAKER_009: The other one comes offline at the end of the month.

00:34:54 SPEAKER_009: So, but the new system does seem to be much, much more efficient.

00:35:01 SPEAKER_009: We developed.

00:35:02 SPEAKER_009: We applied for a grant through the Ministry for Mental Health Supports and Public Safety Personnel, and we're working with Warrior Health to try and identify some training to bring them here.

00:35:12 SPEAKER_009: We'll partner with Homewood Health to deliver that training to our senior leadership team before expanding that to front-line personnel, so stay tuned on that.

00:35:22 SPEAKER_009: When that's provided, the grant funding comes through.

00:35:35 SPEAKER_009: So obviously, the person who's providing the training is key, so there was a change in that last week.

00:35:42 SPEAKER_009: Who's going to provide the training?

00:35:46 SPEAKER_009: They have quite a bit of police experience, so they do a very good job.

00:35:51 SPEAKER_009: On the recruitment side of things, there are seven candidates that went through their first round interviews for recruit constable.

00:35:57 SPEAKER_009: They narrow down quickly, and there are three candidates going through for second round for experienced constable.

00:36:06 SPEAKER_009: We did hire one individual to go to college for September; however, that's been delayed, and they won't be attending in September.

00:36:14 SPEAKER_009: So, continue to recruit and try and fill vacancies that we have.

00:36:22 SPEAKER_009: As you mentioned, the inspector mentioned.

00:36:24 SPEAKER_009: We offered the first practice shuttle run opportunity this past summer, and it was very well received.

00:36:31 SPEAKER_009: Came and asked a lot of good questions.

00:36:34 SPEAKER_009: I'll assist us with questions on assistance and our recruiting efforts.

00:36:37 SPEAKER_018: Carol, you have it.

00:36:40 SPEAKER_018: Can you give us a current state analysis of where we are with the complement that we need to be full?

00:36:47 SPEAKER_018: All right.

00:36:52 SPEAKER_018: Thank you.

00:36:53 SPEAKER_018: Thank you.

00:36:56 SPEAKER_018: But that doesn't include people that are off for other reasons, injured on duty, or that's just strictly getting vacancies that you need to fill.

00:37:04 SPEAKER_018: Thank you.

00:37:04 SPEAKER_018: Maternities, maternities, aren't it?

00:37:07 SPEAKER_009: Including all those other vacancies.

00:37:08 SPEAKER_009: Yeah.

00:37:09 SPEAKER_009: All right.

00:37:09 SPEAKER_009: We've...

00:37:10 SPEAKER_009: All right.

00:37:10 SPEAKER_009: So we have four less.

00:37:13 SPEAKER_009: So four plus others who are off.

00:37:18 SPEAKER_009: Yes.

00:37:20 SPEAKER_017: So you're handling the increased load.

00:37:24 SPEAKER_017: On reduction of staff.

00:37:26 SPEAKER_017: That's quite remarkable, actually.

00:37:28 SPEAKER_017: Yeah.

00:37:29 SPEAKER_017: Yeah, and I think that's really important to profile that you know we're seeing what the stats are telling us, and you've just identified that the human resources, so the staffing we have,

00:37:41 SPEAKER_017: are really being mobilized.

00:37:44 SPEAKER_009: Yeah, thank you.

00:37:46 SPEAKER_009: We're actually carrying.

00:37:47 SPEAKER_009: I guess we're carrying five vacancies.

00:37:49 SPEAKER_009: Yeah, we're carrying inspector vacancy as well.

00:37:52 SPEAKER_009: Okay, thank you.

00:37:56 SPEAKER_009: As you can see from that, there were a number of new hires over the summer.

00:38:00 SPEAKER_009: Go through them all.

00:38:02 SPEAKER_009: But special constables, recruits, out of clerks, dispatchers.

00:38:07 SPEAKER_009: A number of dispatchers did very well.

00:38:09 SPEAKER_009: Actually, over the summer, we hired two with some experience, four that are being trained right now.

00:38:15 SPEAKER_009: The two experienced ones ended up working much more quickly as it resulted from their experience.

00:38:22 SPEAKER_009: We also hired one cadet and records information management specialist, IT specialist, and then five GIP students.

00:38:28 SPEAKER_009: And five GPP students were hired to work with Jason Brany over the summer on a grant for the history of CCSS community social services.

00:38:41 SPEAKER_009: So thanks for breaking that up.

00:38:44 SPEAKER_009: So I can finally go stumbling on it.

00:38:47 SPEAKER_009: So while there are some promotions, Jason Harrington was promoted to full time, and Miranda Prostel was promoted to full time.

00:38:54 SPEAKER_009: And then there were a number of resignations, retirements.

00:38:58 SPEAKER_015: We saw our most just recently.

00:39:00 SPEAKER_015: We've got a new recruit that's just graduated from police college, and this is just very last round.

00:39:04 SPEAKER_015: You'll be getting sworn in on Friday, right?

00:39:07 SPEAKER_036: Yeah, nine o'clock.

00:39:08 SPEAKER_036: So, lost hours of training.

00:39:18 SPEAKER_019: You can see that July 2026 was down quite a bit.

00:39:24 SPEAKER_019: First year to date near 2026.

00:39:25 SPEAKER_019: Year to date for 2026, we're higher.

00:39:27 SPEAKER_019: August has been higher as well.

00:39:30 SPEAKER_019: So there's been a number of people off sick, including some members who are sick because of off-duty injuries or off-duty incidents as well.

00:39:44 SPEAKER_019: That aren't covered by WSIB, but are able to work.

00:39:48 SPEAKER_019: That's a reason for some of those.

00:39:54 SPEAKER_019: No updates on that, we said.

00:39:58 SPEAKER_019: Okay.

00:40:02 SPEAKER_019: Questions?

00:40:02 SPEAKER_019: Then most of the buildings.

00:40:05 SPEAKER_019: Great, did that one up.

00:40:07 SPEAKER_019: So.

00:40:08 SPEAKER_019: And we know.

00:40:09 SPEAKER_019: Um.

00:40:10 SPEAKER_019: So facilities report just some updates.

00:40:12 SPEAKER_019: Some of these are carryovers from previous because nothing's happened yet.

00:40:16 SPEAKER_019: Um.

00:40:16 SPEAKER_011: But I'll go through each.

00:40:17 SPEAKER_011: So the brickwork.

00:40:19 SPEAKER_011: Um.

00:40:20 SPEAKER_011: As you're aware, uh, they're aware of this problem: the deterioration on the exterior walls of the building, and it's remained outstanding.

00:40:29 SPEAKER_011: There's been no action on it that I'm aware of.

00:40:31 SPEAKER_011: I don't know if anybody else has heard anything about it, but there's no update on that.

00:40:34 SPEAKER_011: It continues to just sort of sit in queue.

00:40:38 SPEAKER_011: Cleaning services, the current provider continues to do an excellent job, and the contract remains outstanding.

00:40:42 SPEAKER_011: On confirmation of the contract being signed, there we do have a person doing routine maintenance and repairs that's available much more often now,

00:40:57 SPEAKER_011: which has resulted in some small things that we have to pop up day to day.

00:41:03 SPEAKER_011: An off-shift may say, "Hey, you know, the lights aren't working."

00:41:07 SPEAKER_011: They get fixed immediately, so it actually just been resolved through that way.

00:41:13 SPEAKER_011: The elevator situation has been resolved in terms of being able to lock it out evening to have access to the second-floor building front lobby washroom.

00:41:24 SPEAKER_011: The door lock is to be changed to key access to ensure that staff or a member inside can use it.

00:41:31 SPEAKER_011: This was brought forward, and Breckenridge does have a key for that now.

00:41:37 SPEAKER_011: So the main reason for that, obviously, is if someone were using the washroom in a medical situation to be able to access into the washrooms.

00:41:46 SPEAKER_011: So that part of it, they do have the ability to do that.

00:41:50 SPEAKER_011: AODA compliance long term: we still need to do facilities assessment.

00:41:56 SPEAKER_011: HVAC work has been completed to replace all damaged ceiling tiles.

00:42:03 SPEAKER_011: There was HVAC balancing and calibration which took place at the end of May.

00:42:09 SPEAKER_011: However, there's still a lot of variation in the temperatures of the building, and it's still not resolved.

00:42:14 SPEAKER_011: I would say...

00:42:15 SPEAKER_011: Well, if you look up, the ceiling tiles are damaged again over the summer.

00:42:18 SPEAKER_011: Yeah, I would tell you he's replaced them at least twice this summer.

00:42:25 SPEAKER_015: They had a number of contractors who were in for what better part of a week doing whatever they were doing on balancing.

00:42:31 SPEAKER_015: But we've not noticed in my office.

00:42:33 SPEAKER_015: It's breezing most of the time, so that's nice in the summer.

00:42:36 SPEAKER_009: But it may actually even yesterday...

00:42:40 SPEAKER_009: Yeah, it may have to even yesterday.

00:42:43 SPEAKER_009: My office was twenty-four degrees when I walked out.

00:42:45 SPEAKER_009: And they walked up towards Amy's and Dave's office, and it was, you know, probably lower than.

00:42:52 SPEAKER_009: Amy's got her heater on all summer.

00:42:54 SPEAKER_009: Right.

00:42:54 SPEAKER_009: Electrical: There was a contractor site visit conducted in August as part of our tendering process for a major electrical upgrade to the building.

00:43:09 SPEAKER_011: I haven't heard anything since that walk-around took place.

00:43:12 SPEAKER_011: It obviously works.

00:43:15 SPEAKER_011: Similarly, there was a tendering process started for snow removal.

00:43:19 SPEAKER_011: It looks like last year's contractor does not want to come back to do it.

00:43:22 SPEAKER_011: So, a potential contractor attended and we have their results.

00:43:29 SPEAKER_011: And somebody can take that over.

00:43:33 SPEAKER_011: And the parking lot was repainted in August.

00:43:37 SPEAKER_020: Freshened up.

00:43:38 SPEAKER_020: Some lines were basically not as good, so it's a lot better up there.

00:43:43 SPEAKER_009: Those are the facilities.

00:43:45 SPEAKER_009: I will say that over the summer there was a significant amount done outside.

00:43:50 SPEAKER_009: That wasn't... that wasn't... that was both.

00:43:56 SPEAKER_009: There was some work done on fixing the fence, and there was some work done on the exterior and the gardens.

00:44:02 SPEAKER_009: There was a bunch of different things that they washed the windows for the second time since my nine years here.

00:44:09 SPEAKER_009: So and...

00:44:10 SPEAKER_009: So that hadn't been requested, so there was some work done.

00:44:15 SPEAKER_009: I'm not sure what the motivation was to make it happen.

00:44:19 SPEAKER_015: Having the assigned person here has been—he's here most mornings.

00:44:23 SPEAKER_015: And interestingly, there's—it would be a rare morning where we don't have a fix for him from overnight sort of thing.

00:44:31 SPEAKER_015: We did have a...

00:44:31 SPEAKER_015: Speaking of HVAC, we had a fairly significant issue with the interview room downstairs just being a sauna.

00:44:39 SPEAKER_015: They'd had it fixed once, and a week later, it was doing it again.

00:44:43 SPEAKER_015: But problematic in that that room gets used fairly often.

00:44:50 SPEAKER_015: Any victim that comes in that needs to be interviewed is in that room, and it was even to the point where they would take heat breaks, using the room,

00:44:59 SPEAKER_015: and have somebody go in the lobby to cool off a little bit.

00:45:02 SPEAKER_015: But anyway, that's been problematic for getting that fixed as well.

00:45:08 SPEAKER_015: Different contractor was in fixing it, and then three, four days later, it was back to the same issue.

00:45:14 SPEAKER_015: So we just continue to have consistent HVAC issues going on.

00:45:19 SPEAKER_015: So I think the city is looking at what's involved in a complete HVAC replacement.

00:45:24 SPEAKER_015: But curious how that will happen in a fully operational, twenty-four-hour building.

00:45:29 SPEAKER_015: But we'll see.

00:45:33 SPEAKER_025: Very.

00:45:34 SPEAKER_025: I have two...

00:45:36 SPEAKER_025: First off, it was quite unfortunate that the facility assessment went sideways because there are issues here to be dealt with.

00:45:46 SPEAKER_025: One concern I have is the elevator: so it can be locked at night, but not through the day, so anybody can come in and up the elevator and be right up there through the day.

00:45:56 SPEAKER_025: Not a concern that there's not a passcode on that.

00:46:00 SPEAKER_025: Probably should be as far as security of the building.

00:46:04 SPEAKER_025: Not...

00:46:04 SPEAKER_009: That being said, I think there's also some related something in regards to accessibility, but and we can look into that locking it out during the day as well.

00:46:15 SPEAKER_009: But certainly, we need to be able to have if somebody's in the building and needs that unit, it can't be locked out to get that for egress purposes.

00:46:26 SPEAKER_009: So if there... that's locked out by the downstairs, we have to go downstairs to unlock it.

00:46:33 SPEAKER_009: There's not a rocket that would cause a problem as well, but certainly it's less than ideal.

00:46:44 SPEAKER_009: Yeah, there's no security.

00:46:48 SPEAKER_009: Well, we've got people walking, and Amy isn't at her desk, and they want to write down and write down the hall and speak to whoever they want to speak to.

00:47:00 SPEAKER_015: I think part of the issue is the age of that elevator because... they, one point a couple of years ago, they're having trouble getting parts.

00:47:06 SPEAKER_015: The control board or something went, which was causing issues.

00:47:10 SPEAKER_015: And I think it just dated to the point where they sort of have to patch it together to keep it running.

00:47:16 SPEAKER_015: Once going, but if you're in it, if you risk going in, you'll find that it's very, very slow because there's mechanical issues that they speed it up, but it trips and it's a process.

00:47:31 SPEAKER_028: I've only been in it once with Mary, and she has a lot more faith than I do.

00:47:38 SPEAKER_028: I went in too...

00:47:41 SPEAKER_009: Where when we had to get the cheerleader man rescued?

00:47:44 SPEAKER_021: Yes, should we pass a lunch over here?

00:47:47 SPEAKER_021: Just a couple of things from the fun building facilities, and you brought it up for the July twenty-seventh: Jason Hoffman, who is the manager of corporate services,

00:48:03 SPEAKER_002: presented on some police service facility needs assessment to council.

00:48:09 SPEAKER_002: This request for a needs assessment was defeated, and in turn, staff were requested steps required to obtain a cost estimate from the OPP.

00:48:17 SPEAKER_002: A report on staff findings was presented to council on September fourteenth, twenty twenty-six, and at this stage, there is no critical project milestones or decision deadlines associated with the initiative.

00:48:33 SPEAKER_002: Council has not directed staff to pursue an OPP costing assessment, but rather council has requested information regarding the process, requirements, timelines, and considerations should a future council wish to explore that option.

00:48:48 SPEAKER_002: I think I understand that, but I also don't understand the move.

00:48:56 SPEAKER_002: Moving on from the need for facilities assessment, so I think we need to talk to the city in the new year with the new council and see if Jason can bring that report forward again.

00:49:09 SPEAKER_002: I'm not sure what the timing is for bringing reports back to council that were previously defeated, but it's a new council, so I think there should be a new set of ears and new comment.

00:49:20 SPEAKER_017: Carol, it is critical that the building here meets the needs of the people who work inside.

00:49:29 SPEAKER_017: To me, that's as a board, that's our responsibility.

00:49:33 SPEAKER_017: It is a twenty-four-seven operation.

00:49:35 SPEAKER_017: I don't think a lot of people get that.

00:49:37 SPEAKER_017: So, recognizing that there is a budget process that comes forward, which also includes capital, I would...

00:49:47 SPEAKER_017: I wonder whether consideration could be making sure that that goes forward before the end of the year.

00:49:54 SPEAKER_017: It'll be the new council, anyways, and I think it's just really, really important that we circle back to where we began, because irrespective of costing process, or even if the new council, whatever they decide,

00:50:13 SPEAKER_017: we have a building here that has to be functional twenty-four-seven.

00:50:17 SPEAKER_017: That was the request, and even the collaborative partnership that could have moved forward with cost sharing around that, I thought...

00:50:26 SPEAKER_017: I thought was a positive step forward.

00:50:29 SPEAKER_017: So I think it's really important that we keep our finger on the pulse of what this building needs and what the service needs, and I would suggest the timing maybe really around the budget process.

00:50:44 SPEAKER_018: That's my thought.

00:50:47 SPEAKER_018: I don't trust feel, but that's that's my thought.

00:50:50 SPEAKER_018: I don't want...

00:50:51 SPEAKER_018: I mean, these are important things.

00:50:52 SPEAKER_018: We've talked security.

00:50:54 SPEAKER_018: We've talked work environment, including, you know, temperature.

00:50:58 SPEAKER_018: The temperature swings.

00:51:01 SPEAKER_022: This is a concern.

00:51:03 SPEAKER_022: It isn't a good environment for people to work.

00:51:06 SPEAKER_022: The health.

00:51:07 SPEAKER_022: Yes.

00:51:08 SPEAKER_022: Right.

00:51:09 SPEAKER_022: Do we uh do we have to have council's permission to get an assessment done?

00:51:14 SPEAKER_023: I know it's their building, but can we just go ahead and make that decision?

00:51:19 SPEAKER_023: I would sooner do it in collaboration.

00:51:22 SPEAKER_023: I would too, but the question is, can we make a decision at the board together?

00:51:27 SPEAKER_023: That's my thought.

00:51:29 SPEAKER_024: I would think.

00:51:30 SPEAKER_024: Correct me if I'm wrong, but might be better to go back to council, the new council, and have Jason present his report again, if that's possible.

00:51:39 SPEAKER_024: I don't know whether what the rules are about bringing up an issue that it's already been defeated, or because it's a new council, they may wish to waive that requirement?

00:51:48 SPEAKER_025: I don't know.

00:51:49 SPEAKER_025: And they were going to pick up part of the cost for the assessment.

00:51:52 SPEAKER_025: So I think Jason did a terrific job on pulling that together.

00:51:57 SPEAKER_025: I know he was just as disappointed as everybody else was.

00:52:01 SPEAKER_025: And it does have to be a safe environment for people to work in.

00:52:05 SPEAKER_025: I mean, it's ridiculous.

00:52:10 SPEAKER_026: Is I'm wondering if the board wanted for you.

00:52:15 SPEAKER_018: Wanted through you, chair, to write a letter asking for direction or suggesting, with the concerns that we've just raised, back to city and say, because looking even deciding on a process,

00:52:30 SPEAKER_018: or costing will take time.

00:52:34 SPEAKER_018: Oh yeah.

00:52:35 SPEAKER_018: And so the issue is the building is here and the operations are here.

00:52:39 SPEAKER_018: I'm wondering, in the interim, what can be done or how to move forward, so that we keep it moving forward.

00:52:49 SPEAKER_018: That it's not resolved just because it was the issue of costing came up.

00:52:54 SPEAKER_018: It has not changed any of the concerns that we've been hearing, and that would demonstrate due diligence on the board's part to keep this issue moving forward.

00:53:05 SPEAKER_024: I thought what I might do is talk to Jason because he would know the ins and outs of yes, budget council.

00:53:10 SPEAKER_024: Yeah, and then based on that, whatever the board can do to support him, taking it back to council, the new council for sure.

00:53:18 SPEAKER_024: That might be one way to get it rolling again.

00:53:24 SPEAKER_024: I think that's a great idea.

00:53:26 SPEAKER_018: Um, whatever it takes to get this issue still front and centre and spot the spotlight on it, because to do nothing doesn't demonstrate, you know, the board's responsibility to the service.

00:53:43 SPEAKER_027: Mary.

00:53:43 SPEAKER_027: When does new council become live?

00:53:48 SPEAKER_028: I know that they're Wayne Docker or whatever now, and then the new people come in as well as existing people.

00:53:57 SPEAKER_028: And when can they actually make a decision?

00:54:01 SPEAKER_028: Is it November or December?

00:54:03 SPEAKER_029: In that time frame.

00:54:06 SPEAKER_029: That time period.

00:54:07 SPEAKER_029: December fourteenth meeting, but yeah, yeah, and of course that's when budget process happens as well.

00:54:18 SPEAKER_028: Yeah, that's quite a gap because there are serious concerns with this bill.

00:54:23 SPEAKER_028: Yeah, yeah, that have not.

00:54:24 SPEAKER_028: Still, they just look.

00:54:27 SPEAKER_018: Is there anything else that this board could do, or should be doing?

00:54:32 SPEAKER_018: I mean, other than bringing it forward and wishing to continue to bring it forward.

00:54:38 SPEAKER_018: I mean, you.

00:54:38 SPEAKER_018: I mean, you've just you've raised some concerns this morning that really, the safety and security of the staff who are working here is one.

00:54:46 SPEAKER_018: I think about what we do in City Hall with the FOB access for administration.

00:54:51 SPEAKER_018: You know, you can't get into that certain areas without a FOB to allow you to get in, or without someone you know allowing you.

00:55:00 SPEAKER_018: And I'm thinking, why would this building not have that security level to those who are working on this level?

00:55:06 SPEAKER_030: I mean, no, totally agree.

00:55:12 SPEAKER_030: Totally agree.

00:55:12 SPEAKER_031: It's rather ironic that all the problems we have in this building are identical or worse than the problems we had at City Hall, and that's why we're impatient at City Hall.

00:55:27 SPEAKER_031: It was all those same things.

00:55:29 SPEAKER_031: So you make a decision to look after your own building, but you can't make a decision to look after.

00:55:35 SPEAKER_031: Well, actually, the 922 is a city building.

00:55:40 SPEAKER_031: They should be looking after their own assets.

00:55:45 SPEAKER_009: A couple problems, regardless of who leases this facility, they need a location to work out of that's suitable, and there isn't one current, in my opinion.

00:55:56 SPEAKER_009: And that needs to be dealt with.

00:55:57 SPEAKER_009: That needs to be addressed, regardless of who it is that I put in facility.

00:56:03 SPEAKER_009: The other thing is. this is a city facility.

00:56:06 SPEAKER_009: Could could the police service board pay for that?

00:56:09 SPEAKER_009: Yeah, probably.

00:56:10 SPEAKER_009: Could it happen?

00:56:13 SPEAKER_009: But this is a city facility.

00:56:14 SPEAKER_009: The city it says right on the act that they're responsible for providing a location, a suitable location, and the back end everything that's required to do this, and that is one of its rights.

00:56:25 SPEAKER_009: It's difficult.

00:56:26 SPEAKER_009: I mean, will it end up going against the cost of policing?

00:56:30 SPEAKER_009: Absolutely.

00:56:31 SPEAKER_009: I mean, there's no other way.

00:56:32 SPEAKER_009: That you get from an inflated nine point five million dollars from a nine point four nine nine million dollars from the taxpayer from the levy in the annual budget to a fourteen million dollar I've

00:56:43 SPEAKER_009: heard as high as fifteen million dollars for the mayor in public discussions that this is the cost of policing annually,

00:56:50 SPEAKER_009: unless you throw everything possible against policing costs.

00:56:54 SPEAKER_009: I think it's important, and that's another whole thing that taxpayer has to understand that in the discussion around the city council table.

00:57:01 SPEAKER_009: Is that you know yeah if policing costs thirteen million dollars I'd be asking where should go and look and look for a different policing cost as well but it's not simply not true the actual

00:57:11 SPEAKER_009: cost of policing to the taxpayer we ask for nine point five million dollars a year on this business anybody else is going to require the building is going to require all those other things so

00:57:20 SPEAKER_009: if you want to add all those costs in then add them into everywhere don't compare and compare apples to apples don't compare apples to oranges don't add them into a municipal service but then say

00:57:29 SPEAKER_009: oh. they can get it for seven million dollars in another jurisdiction.

00:57:32 SPEAKER_009: Is has absolutely no comparison whatsoever to what we have in our in our community."

00:57:36 SPEAKER_009: And quite frankly, it's going to end up costing money, regardless of how it happens or pays for it.

00:57:42 SPEAKER_009: It will end up coming up against the peace budget, in my opinion.

00:57:47 SPEAKER_017: Okay, so I heard.

00:57:50 SPEAKER_017: I've heard two things.

00:57:52 SPEAKER_017: I think in your conversation, number one, this building is not meeting the standards required that this.

00:57:56 SPEAKER_017: The standards required at this point in time.

00:58:01 SPEAKER_017: This something that the board needs to formally communicate.

00:58:06 SPEAKER_017: So that's my first question.

00:58:07 SPEAKER_017: My second comment or question is: We've heard comparators tossed all the way around, and I think as a board, we need to indicate clearly the comparator that matches and what's in that comparator,

00:58:24 SPEAKER_017: because as you just mentioned, sometimes the facility maintenance and all of that is not incorporated within a policing cost for another municipality, and I think we need to say yes for the taxpayer.

00:58:39 SPEAKER_017: Let's compare apples to apples, but I think we need to define that comparator because if we leave it to others, then they're going to choose a comparator that may not align.

00:58:53 SPEAKER_017: Yes, and I think we have a responsibility, and then.

00:58:56 SPEAKER_017: If if the tax if it doesn't compare, the taxpayer says you're still too expensive.

00:59:01 SPEAKER_017: It's our job to look at efficiencies and to reduce cost.

00:59:05 SPEAKER_017: But but but it's time I think that you know we start to say if you're going to cost it as you said the 14 or 15 million versus the 9.5 operational cost,

00:59:20 SPEAKER_017: then let's make sure if we're comparing to another municipality that that includes the facility and other those other added on, not just the operational cost, because it doesn't it's not it's a malalignment.

00:59:34 SPEAKER_017: And then, no wonder the the public say, "Wow, it's costly."

00:59:41 SPEAKER_017: So I think taking that initiative and responsibility serves the membership well because it's a fair comparator.

00:59:49 SPEAKER_017: Then, sorry, I'm.

00:59:52 SPEAKER_017: I roll.

00:59:53 SPEAKER_017: Go ahead, Mary.

00:59:54 SPEAKER_028: I agree with the chief in that the city is to provide a building and maintenance for the police service.

01:00:02 SPEAKER_028: The police service should not have to pay for that for any part.

01:00:06 SPEAKER_028: They provide the police, and they do it very well.

01:00:10 SPEAKER_024: And I think the best comparator is the IOP dashboard that they put out that shows the true cost of policing in population to operating because the facility is all over the map on how they

01:00:28 SPEAKER_024: account for it,

01:00:29 SPEAKER_024: how they treat it.

01:00:31 SPEAKER_024: It's not possible to do an actual Apple staffers comparison of that.

01:00:35 SPEAKER_024: So IOP has done a good job in just showing operating costs based on population.

01:00:40 SPEAKER_024: Yes, yes.

01:00:41 SPEAKER_024: I think he's all seen that.

01:00:42 SPEAKER_024: Yes.

01:00:43 SPEAKER_009: And I'll say the financial information reports stated gross amount that's spent on salaries, and they and but there's nowhere where it puts in revenue because we don't typically have revenue of police services.

01:00:57 SPEAKER_009: So you can inflate that number because there's no revenue cost against it.

01:01:01 SPEAKER_009: But we generate significant amount of revenue, and so if you look at the financial information reports, that's not an accurate way of looking at it.

01:01:10 SPEAKER_009: It should be the net, the net of the expenses for civilians, the net of the expenses for police officers, and all of those things, not to grow them out,

01:01:18 SPEAKER_009: because there's nowhere that that amount's out.

01:01:21 SPEAKER_009: There's nowhere where it counts for all that revenue, and that's how you inflate numbers and make them.

01:01:27 SPEAKER_009: Yeah.

01:01:29 SPEAKER_018: So, I think as a board, it would be prudent for us to say the comparators need to be representative, because otherwise, it allows misinterpretation.

01:01:47 SPEAKER_018: Interpretation, and I—you just very clearly said, and I think that's a fair request from the board that the comparator needs to be based on.

01:01:55 SPEAKER_018: And I would leave the formal phrasing so that we move forward with confidence, because yes, if we have to make adjustments to costing or look at efficiencies or whatever,

01:02:06 SPEAKER_018: then at least we do that from the comparator that is most accurate.

01:02:11 SPEAKER_018: Yes, that's why the IOP is starting.

01:02:13 SPEAKER_018: Why the IOP is started collecting that information?

01:02:16 SPEAKER_009: Because yeah, I mean every year there's half a million dollars built into a cost of policing attributed to a 2009 renovation of this building, but paid for the HVAC that isn't working.

01:02:28 SPEAKER_009: Is it appropriate that that's an ongoing expense to a police cost?

01:02:32 SPEAKER_009: Because that's added in every year.

01:02:33 SPEAKER_009: Five hundred thousand dollars measured that for paying back from the 2009 renovations, and still has three more years after this: twenty-seven, twenty-eight, twenty-nine.

01:02:41 SPEAKER_009: It was done over twenty years, so there.

01:02:42 SPEAKER_009: For twenty years, so there's ten million dollars over for a six million dollar renovation.

01:02:46 SPEAKER_009: There's a ten million dollar payback, and that gets added in.

01:02:49 SPEAKER_009: So right off the bat, there's half a million dollars attributed to policing costs that I frankly don't see as any benefit.

01:02:55 SPEAKER_009: I'm actually seeing it as a detriment because it's not even working; it has nothing to do with policing costs.

01:03:03 SPEAKER_009: Absolutely nothing.

01:03:03 SPEAKER_009: But every year on the expenditures listed for the financial information reports, those five million dollars.

01:03:12 SPEAKER_018: My concern is, and unless we can move forward and really define the clear parameters around which we do comparators, we're already seeing our stats go up.

01:03:24 SPEAKER_018: We're seeing the volume and need for service go up.

01:03:28 SPEAKER_018: You know, that's an HR resource to meet future and growing needs that we as a board are going to have to look at.

01:03:37 SPEAKER_018: So this is a time I think to say, and certainly if the IOP can assist or whatever to help us move this forward, so that if a taxpayer says policing is too expensive,

01:03:49 SPEAKER_018: then it's really policing.

01:03:51 SPEAKER_018: It's not building and policing.

01:03:53 SPEAKER_018: Although capital is important, but people want to be safe in their communities.

01:03:58 SPEAKER_018: They want to know: Do we have enough police officers to take care of our community?

01:04:03 SPEAKER_018: That's the key issue for people, and let's start measuring that municipality to municipality, or if we do a costing, let's be accurate about that.

01:04:17 SPEAKER_009: If we come up with some type of measurement, it's just going to be perceived as being inaccurate.

01:04:22 SPEAKER_009: I think you go with a measurement that's already been established by the province.

01:04:26 SPEAKER_009: Yeah, sure.

01:04:27 SPEAKER_009: The submission guidelines are there.

01:04:28 SPEAKER_009: Yeah.

01:04:29 SPEAKER_009: If there's somebody that isn't following the submission guidelines, then that's an issue that the IOP can speak up with them.

01:04:34 SPEAKER_009: But they have all those numbers and they provide us all that information on an annual basis.

01:04:38 SPEAKER_009: Why are we reinventing the wheel?

01:04:40 SPEAKER_009: That is a cost comparison.

01:04:41 SPEAKER_009: All of this is not costs.

01:04:43 SPEAKER_009: That is strictly on operating costs.

01:04:46 SPEAKER_009: So, so why is that not the information?

01:04:50 SPEAKER_018: You no. Let me reframe.

01:04:53 SPEAKER_018: That information is the state-of-the-art current comparator for operating costs without the extras.

01:05:03 SPEAKER_018: Then to me, that is an accurate reflection of the cost of policing per community, but how does it change?

01:05:12 SPEAKER_018: It's not the same as when budgets are presented.

01:05:19 SPEAKER_024: See, I understand when they say the cost of providing policing is fifteen million.

01:05:25 SPEAKER_024: I understand that, but that five million dollars that they tacked in there for the building isn't realistic when you look at operating costs;

01:05:35 SPEAKER_024: all the other forty-four municipalities across Ontario have that same cost for providing the facilities for the police service to work on it.

01:05:47 SPEAKER_024: Comparing one place like Saugeen—they have a beautifully built building, West Grey, Annapolis—there are other areas that have buildings that are not that expensive, but they're in the same position we are.

01:05:59 SPEAKER_024: They're going for a needs assessment.

01:06:00 SPEAKER_024: They're looking at building.

01:06:02 SPEAKER_024: Oh.

01:06:04 SPEAKER_024: So I understand where total cost of policing goes to the taxpayer, but I think it's being misrepresented.

01:06:11 SPEAKER_024: Misrepresented that it's not a fair comparator.

01:06:15 SPEAKER_024: Whether you can say it's this cost for here, do not compare it with somebody else who doesn't have the same type of additions.

01:06:24 SPEAKER_024: Thank you.

01:06:26 SPEAKER_015: Like my frustration is, we spend months every year putting data presentations together for the council education sessions; you don't see that in a lot of other services.

01:06:39 SPEAKER_015: It takes a very, very long time, and we even have the bar graphs that show you every other police service in the province with similar sizes and everything else, and where we sit.

01:06:48 SPEAKER_015: And the frustration is we're continually coming back.

01:06:51 SPEAKER_015: I look at Collingwood, and before that it was Strathroy and some of the others that are nowhere near the same issue.

01:06:58 SPEAKER_015: You have to understand that the population on the sign is not necessarily being the demographics of your town and everything else; your crime rates, your violent crime rates, your stats in Canada are the same.

01:07:10 SPEAKER_015: There are major differences amongst municipalities,

01:07:13 SPEAKER_015: and it just so happens that this one has the demographics that result in very high police volume and needs that don't present themselves in the vacation town of Collingwood and things like that.

01:07:27 SPEAKER_015: We've all driven through Collingwood.

01:07:29 SPEAKER_015: We know they're not the same, and yet, you know,

01:07:31 SPEAKER_015: it's very frustrating to hear those comparisons being brought up after having presented all of that material to show the reasons why we're not Collingwood and we're not Strathroy, right,

01:07:41 SPEAKER_015: and we're not all of the other little bedroom communities that exist outside of the large centres.

01:07:48 SPEAKER_015: So, so where do we go from here?

01:07:50 SPEAKER_015: As far as first of all, building.

01:07:53 SPEAKER_015: I mean, that's a critical issue.

01:07:55 SPEAKER_015: I mentioned.

01:07:56 SPEAKER_015: As I mentioned, maybe we go back to Jason, and or I go back to Jason and say, okay, this is a new council.

01:08:03 SPEAKER_024: Can we dust off that report that went to council in September this year and have it on the agenda for one of the first council and full council meetings with the new council and see

01:08:15 SPEAKER_024: where that goes?

01:08:16 SPEAKER_024: And I think that's probably the first baby step forward, if everybody agrees with.

01:08:27 SPEAKER_032: Right.

01:08:28 SPEAKER_032: I have to start somewhere.

01:08:33 SPEAKER_028: I only hope that new council, and it sounds like they've shelved that too for a while, comparing OPP to city police service.

01:08:43 SPEAKER_028: It's not apples to apples at all.

01:08:45 SPEAKER_028: City police service is for a city this size; it is very necessary.

01:08:51 SPEAKER_028: OPP is a totally different one.

01:08:53 SPEAKER_028: With no disrespect to OVP.

01:08:56 SPEAKER_028: So it's a whole different ballgame, and the community outreach that the service does is incredible.

01:09:03 SPEAKER_028: Not to be ignored.

01:09:05 SPEAKER_024: I think, based on the conversations that the city had with Michael Kirschen, Solicitor General at AMO, Michael has also said, "Look very carefully at what you've got today, and work with the police service."

01:09:20 SPEAKER_024: Is what he told.

01:09:22 SPEAKER_024: Was quite tall.

01:09:22 SPEAKER_024: The city, the building assessment was turned down for all the wrong reasons.

01:09:28 SPEAKER_024: It wasn't turned down for any reason.

01:09:30 SPEAKER_024: It was just ignored.

01:09:31 SPEAKER_024: Yeah, for all the wrong reasons.

01:09:33 SPEAKER_024: Yeah, because I think if they had gotten it, if it had gone ahead, they would know how bad it is.

01:09:42 SPEAKER_033: So I think they were more afraid of what they were going to find out if there was an assessment.

01:09:47 SPEAKER_015: Yeah, that's not the way to lead.

01:09:49 SPEAKER_015: There are a number of things, like the electrical tender and things like that that are moving forward right now.

01:09:56 SPEAKER_015: Potentially the HVAC one coming up.

01:09:57 SPEAKER_015: Those are very large ticket items, probably seven-figure items being spent on the building.

01:10:03 SPEAKER_015: And I would think whatever you decide to do with the building, but you'd want to know that is the longevity and that thing as part of that decision-making process.

01:10:12 SPEAKER_015: Is money well spent?

01:10:14 SPEAKER_015: The building was ever repurposed for something?

01:10:17 SPEAKER_015: Do all those same electrical and HVAC needs?

01:10:18 SPEAKER_015: Afterplan HVAC needs apply in that case, but anyway, that's why the assessment is so important, but they don't realize that.

01:10:30 SPEAKER_015: Right.

01:10:38 SPEAKER_015: Anything else?

01:10:45 SPEAKER_015: Motion to me, I would move about the Jason.

01:10:46 SPEAKER_015: I would move about to do so.

01:10:48 SPEAKER_015: I'd like them to have the new council address that.

01:11:02 SPEAKER_015: All in favour?

01:11:02 SPEAKER_015: Aye.

01:11:05 SPEAKER_015: All right.

01:11:05 SPEAKER_015: Financial update, Chief.

01:11:07 SPEAKER_015: Yeah.

01:11:08 SPEAKER_015: So I passed that around with the holiday last week, and this is carried up to the last eight period of September twentieth for the last one.

01:11:15 SPEAKER_009: You'll see that there's a projected deficit of one hundred forty-three thousand eight hundred dollars million deficit.

01:11:25 SPEAKER_009: There was an item that was missed in the board submission for the budget.

01:11:32 SPEAKER_009: So that's one reason the civilian numbers are off.

01:11:38 SPEAKER_009: But I will.

01:11:40 SPEAKER_009: That's the one hundred forty-three thousand dollars, one hundred fifteen thousand dollars deficit.

01:11:45 SPEAKER_009: Is not actually a realistic number.

01:11:47 SPEAKER_009: This has been prepared by the city, and there is on page two in the uniform police office.

01:11:53 SPEAKER_009: There's a four hundred thousand dollars deficiency.

01:11:57 SPEAKER_009: Therefore, the city will be under and will be just for income offset because there are only vacancies.

01:12:04 SPEAKER_009: Actually, nine point four nine nine million was asked for.

01:12:08 SPEAKER_009: Lastly, there should be actually a ten thousand dollar surplus.

01:12:13 SPEAKER_009: Ten thousand dollars.

01:12:19 SPEAKER_009: But actually, twelve thousand dollars.

01:12:22 SPEAKER_009: Much surplus.

01:12:30 SPEAKER_009: Sorry, one hundred and fifty thousand or two hundred.

01:12:32 SPEAKER_009: Three hundred and two hundred four hundred thousand.

01:12:38 SPEAKER_009: Thank you.

01:12:43 SPEAKER_009: Okay.

01:12:44 SPEAKER_009: Thank you.

01:12:57 SPEAKER_009: So all in all, pretty good shape.

01:13:00 SPEAKER_009: Like this in reality.

01:13:02 SPEAKER_009: Yes, good shape.

01:13:04 SPEAKER_009: We're under our budget.

01:13:09 SPEAKER_009: Else's worlds.

01:13:11 SPEAKER_009: Yes, well, so we use different data sets.

01:13:19 SPEAKER_009: That's why that was probably the easiest one to do, and the other dataset is a little bit different.

01:13:31 SPEAKER_009: And that hasn't been implemented yet into the payroll.

01:13:37 SPEAKER_009: Probably more towards balance.

01:13:39 SPEAKER_009: So there are outstanding as a result of the outstanding equity payments that go back to 2025.

01:13:56 SPEAKER_009: I'll be retroactive into chief activity reports.

01:14:17 SPEAKER_009: Yeah, busy summer and a little bit of time.

01:14:21 SPEAKER_009: But probably some of the highlights: I attended the Open Ontario Association Chiefs Conference in Niagara in June.

01:14:28 SPEAKER_009: Special Olympics Torch Run.

01:14:29 SPEAKER_009: A lot of the people here were present as well.

01:14:32 SPEAKER_009: Great day across Grey and Bruce counties.

01:14:36 SPEAKER_009: July took part in the IOP virtual town hall meetings and kept up to date with that.

01:14:41 SPEAKER_009: I met with the Alberta NDP as well.

01:14:45 SPEAKER_009: August, I led for the CACP annual summit in Edmonton, and that included it wasn't six days.

01:14:53 SPEAKER_009: I would include the travel: two days for travel, two days for the summit, and two days for the Information Communication Technology committee that I sit on as well.

01:15:04 SPEAKER_009: So, and as well, I had 10W15.

01:15:06 SPEAKER_009: That was very well done.

01:15:11 SPEAKER_009: Parkell's speech.

01:15:13 SPEAKER_009: That's it.

01:15:13 SPEAKER_009: Unless anybody has any questions.

01:15:19 SPEAKER_009: All right, moving on to item number 16: Operation Plan Progress Update.

01:15:23 SPEAKER_009: So this is the last.

01:15:27 SPEAKER_009: Sorry, not the last.

01:15:28 SPEAKER_009: There will be one more at the end of the year.

01:15:35 SPEAKER_009: Update up until June, and so this leaves just one quarter left before we complete this phase of the operations plan from 2023 to 2026, and you'll see that this is the seventh update.

01:15:51 SPEAKER_009: At this point, where just one action hasn't yet started; ten are in progress; thirty-nine or seventy-eight percent of the actions are considered complete.

01:16:03 SPEAKER_009: At the end of the year, many actions were designated completed because they're ongoing issues that are built into our business practices.

01:16:12 SPEAKER_009: Some of the highlighted completed actions: improving external messaging regarding crime trends and prevention tips, improving police visibility in the River District by studying alternative options.

01:16:24 SPEAKER_009: Yes, efforts to increase patrol at peak times.

01:16:27 SPEAKER_009: We've regularly scheduled.

01:16:29 SPEAKER_009: Now that we have our part-time officers, that should improve a lot as well as our dedicated downtown.

01:16:35 SPEAKER_009: So there's been quite a few additions, changes that have moved forward.

01:16:40 SPEAKER_009: Some of the things that are still in progress: obviously, publishing emergency response times to priority calls.

01:16:51 SPEAKER_009: The installation of NG911 has been delayed, and we have all the metrics now.

01:16:56 SPEAKER_009: It's just a matter of making the piece.

01:16:58 SPEAKER_009: Piece to put all that information as well.

01:17:02 SPEAKER_009: There's some movement on the dashboard that we purchased.

01:17:06 SPEAKER_009: There's some grant funding, and that's now been scheduled for implementation with Better Tech.

01:17:15 SPEAKER_009: On their NG911 commandments, they have some time on their hands as that was waiting for them to finish and resources available to them.

01:17:25 SPEAKER_009: Well, improving internal communication.

01:17:25 SPEAKER_009: Well, improving internal communication—we're still working on that.

01:17:29 SPEAKER_009: Microsoft 365 rollouts still on their way, and SharePoint still on their way, so that's in progress.

01:17:37 SPEAKER_009: And it's a service delivery model review for call responses.

01:17:42 SPEAKER_009: We've done some work on that delivery, including some out-of-service codes for our officers.

01:17:50 SPEAKER_009: Well, we're you know reviewing some of those things to through.

01:17:54 SPEAKER_009: The through AI for online reporting, that's still working on it, and not started yet is the has been delayed because of budget issues.

01:18:09 SPEAKER_009: I think we're moving fairly well forward with all those things.

01:18:14 SPEAKER_009: If you review updates, you can see a lot of the lot of things move forward.

01:18:19 SPEAKER_009: You know, questions we just asked a lot of green ink.

01:18:22 SPEAKER_009: Greening accomplished over the last for the last seven cycles of the six months.

01:18:28 SPEAKER_009: So, yeah, looks great.

01:18:31 SPEAKER_009: It's good.

01:18:32 SPEAKER_009: It's going to be nice to have our citizens see that and how much work is done.

01:18:42 SPEAKER_034: It's part of the open session forecast.

01:18:48 SPEAKER_034: All right.

01:18:51 SPEAKER_035: Very good.

01:18:53 SPEAKER_035: Going to item number B: Resources in Canada and Ontario.

01:18:58 SPEAKER_009: So I'll start with some of that.

01:19:01 SPEAKER_009: So Statistics Canada releases their crime reporting statistics every year.

01:19:07 SPEAKER_009: The mandate is that police provide the information to Statistics Canada in the form of a reporting survey.

01:19:16 SPEAKER_009: So these numbers are consistent across.

01:19:19 SPEAKER_009: That is consistent across the country, and they change.

01:19:24 SPEAKER_009: They measure changes in crime by tracking both volume and the seriousness of the crime committed.

01:19:28 SPEAKER_009: So everything is given a weight.

01:19:31 SPEAKER_009: The most important crime count is the total crime severity.

01:19:35 SPEAKER_009: It increased by five percent in 2025 to a value of 75.

01:19:39 SPEAKER_009: This marked the second consecutive annual decrease, while the upward trending went from 2015 to 2023.

01:19:52 SPEAKER_009: That that was consistent across Canada, but not necessarily consistent.

01:19:58 SPEAKER_009: So, obviously, can be influenced just specifically as you'll recall a couple years ago when we had these significant homicides, our crime severity went through the roof as a result of waiting for those homicides.

01:20:12 SPEAKER_009: That, as you see in Figure One, one sound was was with four others.

01:20:18 SPEAKER_009: Of the twenty municipal services in Ontario, less than less than 125,000 people with crime severity index above 100.

01:20:26 SPEAKER_009: So, as I said, there was 25, 75 for Canada, were well above that 100.

01:20:35 SPEAKER_009: So, violent crime severity index in Owen Sound was 132 and a half, an increase of three point eight percent.

01:20:44 SPEAKER_009: Also, seemed to be trending down.

01:20:47 SPEAKER_009: And now we were at 127 point seven, near the fourth highest violent crime severity index time under Bay Timmins and Smith Falls.

01:20:55 SPEAKER_009: The non-violent crime severity index, property crimes and criminal other criminal offenses, was 92 point eight, 2025, and that was an increase of one point two percent last year.

01:21:08 SPEAKER_009: Again, we were the fourth highest in the province behind Timmins to Saint Mary's.

01:21:15 SPEAKER_009: One sounds total violent.

01:21:16 SPEAKER_009: Unviolent CSI continues to do well above collective average.

01:21:20 SPEAKER_009: The past ten years, which we see in Figure Four, similar to the national trends, the total CSI was on an upward trend.

01:21:31 SPEAKER_009: And average has been steadily falling that since 2021.

01:21:35 SPEAKER_009: Crime survey reached a peak of 123 in 2003.

01:21:41 SPEAKER_009: So you'll see those.

01:21:45 SPEAKER_009: Oh, so go through the presentation.

01:22:01 SPEAKER_009: Yeah, so that's going to go.

01:22:06 SPEAKER_009: There we are amongst the services.

01:22:09 SPEAKER_009: Certainly, a population under under 120,000.

01:22:11 SPEAKER_009: Yeah, you'll see the Ontario average and the Canadian average on the right, and you'll see where we are.

01:22:19 SPEAKER_009: And it's not a.

01:22:21 SPEAKER_009: Obviously, shows the demands and workload, criminal crime severity.

01:22:27 SPEAKER_009: That's not something that we we can influence based on our calls for service.

01:22:32 SPEAKER_009: They we're responsive to crimes.

01:22:35 SPEAKER_009: So certainly, that shows the workload volume that we have.

01:22:40 SPEAKER_009: Flipped out the next one.

01:22:44 SPEAKER_009: Violent crime severity again.

01:22:46 SPEAKER_009: Well, about any homicides, I'd suggest that it's very high.

01:22:53 SPEAKER_009: We didn't have any homicides, so yeah.

01:22:59 SPEAKER_018: Public who may be watching or tuning in later to this.

01:23:05 SPEAKER_018: This is not a positive message about people wanting or considering coming to our community or staying in our community,

01:23:14 SPEAKER_018: this is a reflection of the demands on the police services and the changing needs in our community.

01:23:22 SPEAKER_018: What sort of messaging do we, as a board, want to send to the public?

01:23:27 SPEAKER_018: I mean, they're going to see this information.

01:23:29 SPEAKER_018: There's going to be some conclusions.

01:23:33 SPEAKER_018: For me, as you presented about the staffing, I mean, it's remarkable to be dealing with this and with the staffing that's currently present.

01:23:42 SPEAKER_018: But you know, I guess, what is the message to the public when they are seeing this?

01:23:50 SPEAKER_018: I mean, there's some conclusions that can be drawn from this that aren't necessarily encouraging for people who might want to hear.

01:23:59 SPEAKER_009: I think it's important that I understand that this is a weighted, okay, weighted index.

01:24:05 SPEAKER_009: So.

01:24:06 SPEAKER_009: Homicide in a population of 22,000 people, compared to a homicide population of three million people in Toronto.

01:24:14 SPEAKER_009: The weight carries a big, but I am going to stress that when you're comparing comparing the under 120,000, it's closer than it is.

01:24:24 SPEAKER_009: That's why we take out the big.

01:24:25 SPEAKER_009: Yes.

01:24:27 SPEAKER_009: That being said, any safety is the most important aspect of anything in your community, and the people's feeling.

01:24:34 SPEAKER_009: of safety and sense of safety.

01:24:37 SPEAKER_009: I'm not going to say that policing isn't expensive.

01:24:39 SPEAKER_009: Policing is expensive, but without policing and without community safety, you're not going to have any any interest in coming to your community.

01:24:45 SPEAKER_009: You're not going to have that.

01:24:48 SPEAKER_009: We is it high?

01:24:49 SPEAKER_009: Yes, it is.

01:24:50 SPEAKER_009: Are we responding to the calls?

01:24:51 SPEAKER_009: Yes, we are.

01:24:52 SPEAKER_009: Is there more that we could do to prevent that?

01:24:54 SPEAKER_009: I mean, that's a that's community safety and well-being type of discussion that has to take place somewhat at some point, but certainly.

01:25:04 SPEAKER_009: There are concerns that we're that need to be addressed, and we we we say at the around this table on a regular basis that you know housing, mental health,

01:25:16 SPEAKER_009: and addictions are their drivers for policing and the fact that those individuals are most likely to be victimized, and we concentrate the housing for Grand Bruce because Gray Andrews, concentrate the services for Gray Andrews,

01:25:34 SPEAKER_009: and concentrate everything within the municipality itself.

01:25:37 SPEAKER_009: That draws in victimization and crime, and that creates workloads.

01:25:43 SPEAKER_009: And I'm not going to sit back and say that you know that it's the worst thing in the world.

01:25:49 SPEAKER_009: There's a lot of positives to having everything that almost supports for those individuals, but it creates workloads, creates victimization of those individuals.

01:25:57 SPEAKER_009: No perfect.

01:25:59 SPEAKER_009: All perfect example,

01:26:01 SPEAKER_009: the homicides that we had here involved like the one was directly involving individuals who were from Toronto coming up here to prey on the people that are in our community who are addicted to substances.

01:26:12 SPEAKER_009: No, and and so that crime is a direct result of that victimization.

01:26:19 SPEAKER_009: So there, it it's it needs to be addressed.

01:26:23 SPEAKER_009: But I think what needs to be addressed is that we need to be on top of things, and now is not the time to discuss the fact that you know could you do it cheaper?

01:26:33 SPEAKER_009: I don't know if you do it better.

01:26:34 SPEAKER_009: I think is the main is the true answer because without safety, what what?

01:26:43 SPEAKER_009: That's an important message, I think for sure.

01:26:50 SPEAKER_009: So just continuing nonviolent, nonviolent, and that's way up there as well.

01:26:56 SPEAKER_009: Well.

01:26:57 SPEAKER_009: Above the provincial and the national average.

01:27:00 SPEAKER_009: And crime severity index, see 2023.

01:27:04 SPEAKER_009: You'll see the violent crime, and that was something pretty homicides, but still, it was a significant way above.

01:27:11 SPEAKER_009: But the trending is still the same.

01:27:13 SPEAKER_009: We're still trending higher than total crime and nonviolent crime.

01:27:20 SPEAKER_009: Our clearance rates.

01:27:21 SPEAKER_009: This is a reflection of the staffing, probably.

01:27:24 SPEAKER_009: Our clearance rates dropped.

01:27:25 SPEAKER_009: from last year.

01:27:26 SPEAKER_009: From it was just about it was about 64, I think it was 65 last year.

01:27:34 SPEAKER_009: Now it's down to six.

01:27:35 SPEAKER_009: But that's we were the second highest clearance rate I think last year.

01:27:41 SPEAKER_015: Yeah, that's a concerning number too because we've always said, despite the workload and number of calls and everything else that we're doing, the reflection, the effectiveness, and how good of a job you're doing,

01:27:52 SPEAKER_015: the crime is being solved, and when that number starts coming down, I think that just reflects on some of the pressures we're seeing with the rising call volume, and as you mentioned,

01:28:03 SPEAKER_015: some of the staffing concerns as well.

01:28:06 SPEAKER_009: So, and I'll stress that we're still very, very effective.

01:28:09 SPEAKER_009: We're well, we're above the average, but we could be better with more resources and better resources.

01:28:20 SPEAKER_009: See the changes there.

01:28:21 SPEAKER_009: We dropped slightly after increases the last two years.

01:28:26 SPEAKER_009: The total of all instances, all Criminal Code violations; those you know, it's difficult because a lot of those types of violations, some of them are influenced by other decisions.

01:28:43 SPEAKER_009: So our pre-charge consultation will influence that,

01:28:47 SPEAKER_009: and we're trying to ground shoes not to lay a charge or... a change in the way that we're laying charges in relation to offences where people are released from custody and they're breaching those conditions.

01:29:01 SPEAKER_009: All those types of releases and offenses really can influence.

01:29:05 SPEAKER_009: Yes, the numbers are down, but I'm not sure if the actual number of offenses has changed much.

01:29:11 SPEAKER_009: Maybe it's just the number that we're reporting.

01:29:13 SPEAKER_009: So, you can see the breakdown by types of incidents: what they are.

01:29:20 SPEAKER_009: Assaults, level three sexual assaults.

01:29:25 SPEAKER_009: They attribute to about half of...

01:29:27 SPEAKER_009: Well, when you include assaults against police officers, but the actual...

01:29:31 SPEAKER_009: And then nine violent crime.

01:29:35 SPEAKER_009: Administration of justice is certainly significant.

01:29:37 SPEAKER_009: And then the total crime rate.

01:29:46 SPEAKER_009: We're unfortunately right at the top.

01:29:55 SPEAKER_009: Violations, or again, top.

01:29:58 SPEAKER_009: So that's a report that you know what it's not.

01:30:02 SPEAKER_009: It's not great news.

01:30:03 SPEAKER_009: It's but it's reflective of what the actual demands are on the police and what demands are.

01:30:17 SPEAKER_036: Did you cover off the chart?

01:30:23 SPEAKER_015: Sorry, it's okay.

01:30:25 SPEAKER_015: Just the last chart just showed the number of criminal violations per officer, and we're the highest on the Islands.

01:30:33 SPEAKER_015: I'm sure we move on to the next thing on the management policy.

01:30:38 SPEAKER_015: Reach this here.

01:30:39 SPEAKER_015: They're just doing their lap.

01:30:40 SPEAKER_015: So, do you want to finish that?

01:30:41 SPEAKER_015: Oh sure, yeah.

01:30:45 SPEAKER_037: So, guess um, what happened back in June?

01:30:51 SPEAKER_024: Back a while ago.

01:30:52 SPEAKER_024: Yeah, I forgot about it until Kayla reminded me.

01:30:56 SPEAKER_024: Um, on our General Policy 009, we have procurement amounts that are set out on the last page, and they were up by the City.

01:31:07 SPEAKER_024: They've been increased, and all we're doing is updating our policy to mirror what the City has.

01:31:12 SPEAKER_024: So we're...

01:31:13 SPEAKER_024: What the City has, word lockstep.

01:31:17 SPEAKER_024: So there's no questions on that.

01:31:18 SPEAKER_024: If I could have a motion to move changes, Carol.

01:31:23 SPEAKER_024: Thank you.

01:31:24 SPEAKER_024: Seconded, Mary.

01:31:26 SPEAKER_024: Thank you.

01:31:27 SPEAKER_024: All in favour?

01:31:30 SPEAKER_024: Carried.

01:31:31 SPEAKER_024: So why don't I have a motion to move into closed and confidential closed now?

01:31:39 SPEAKER_036: Moved by myself, seconded by Gary Dixon, that the Board move into closed session, and upon termination of the closed session, the Board move into confidential closed session.

01:32:00 SPEAKER_038: These meetings are to review and discuss matters that fall under Section 404 of the Community Safety and Police Services Act and Section 25 Item B of the Kind of B Police Service Board Policy 003,

01:32:13 SPEAKER_038: or guidance to consider a position plan procedure criteria or instruction to be applied to any negotiations carried on, or to be carried on by or on behalf of the Board.

01:32:28 SPEAKER_038: B personal matters about an identifiable individual, including members of the police services or any other employees of the Board.

01:32:36 SPEAKER_038: C labour relations.

01:32:37 SPEAKER_038: See labour relations or employee negotiations.

01:32:44 SPEAKER_039: All in favour, aye.

01:32:45 SPEAKER_039: Do you want to bring to reach him?

01:32:50 SPEAKER_039: Are they available?

01:32:50 SPEAKER_039: Yep.

01:32:51 SPEAKER_039: Come back.