Sir: I don’t know whether the Ontario Provincial Police would do a good job patrolling the streets of Chatham-Kent. I don’t know whether that provincial group would provide a more cost-effective service than the Chatham-Kent Police Service.
And it seems that thanks to Chatham-Kent council I won’t be able to get this information.
Recently, council was offered the chance to provide this information to municipal residents through a free presentation by the OPP. I had assumed that such a notion would pass easily, but I was wrong. I guess some members of council aren’t willing to listen to such a proposal.
While watching part of the discussion on television, I heard a lot of suppositions offered by members of council suggesting that the current service is just fine thanks, was competent and not corrupt. I also heard some councillors suggest that the OPP would do this and not that without getting information directly from the source.
I believe the Chatham-Kent Police Service is doing an excellent job. I trust that from the chief on down, all personnel are highly trained and above reproach.
However, I can also make the same assumption about the OPP.
This wasn’t the first time that such an idea was proffered and probably won’t be the last.
It would have been great to listen to a proposal from the OPP and weigh its merits. Councillors could have asked myriad questions on issues such as salary, whether the OPP would be willing to open offices 24-7, whether its first loyalty would be to the province or the municipality and probably others. Such a presentation could have answered questions for both council and the public, maybe once and for all.
It seems strange to me that members of council would not at least be willing to listen to an idea. Isn’t that the mandate of council?
Brian Cleeve
Chatham
