The Mayor of Windsor and Chair of the Police Services Board anticipates Windsor Police Service will express interest in the upcoming policing contract for Leamington.
As you've heard on AM800 News, Leamington Council has voted to terminate its contract with the OPP and agreed to issue a request for proposals (RFP) from any police service interested in taking over policing in the town.
Drew Dilkens tells AM800’s The Morning Drive, Windsor police would like to see the request for proposal first, similar to what happened in Amherstburg.
"They indicated they wanted to make a change, they issued an RFP that outlined exactly the types of services that they would like to see or the level of services that they would like to see then we were able to take that back, unpack it and provide a fulsome response,” he says. “So that's the same type of thing we would have to see in Leamington, what is their expectation?"
Because Leamington doesn't want to go with the OPP, Dilkens says it leaves the town with very few options.
"I suspect they're not going to go back and create their own Leamington police service so it leaves them really with the option of Chatham or Windsor," he says. "So we would just need to see what it needs and what exactly they're looking for to be able to provide an estimate and a quote to them, and we're certainly willing to do that.”
Dilkens believes the best response would be a regional police service across the county.
"And share this very expensive resource across everyone who lives here, that would be the absolute ideal situation but we'd probably be years away from seeing that happen just because so many municipalities have OPP contracts that expire years down the road."
Mayor Hilda MacDonald says several nearby police services have already reached out to the town with interest in bidding on the contract.
Leamington currently pays the OPP $5.4-million a year for policing.
Windsor Police Service took over policing in Amherstburg on January 1, 2019. The 20-year contract is expected to save that town $570,000 a year plus an additional $2-million to $3-million in pensions and benefits.