DRYDEN — Policing services will cost each property in the city an average of nearly $1,400.
Dryden Mayor Jack Harrison addressed the province's standing committee and economic affairs during their pre-budget consultation in Kenora last week, where he said that Dryden has some of the highest per capita calls for service in Ontario and the country.
“We did move over the OPP for police and those costs have gone up slightly, and we are in a transition period as we transition from municipal police force into the OPP, what we are seeing is our municipality compared to other municipalities in the area, as well as, across Ontario is that we are one of the highest per property costs in Ontario,” Dryden Mayor Jack Harrison said.
According to Harrison, Dryden policing costs per property are 76 per cent higher than Kenora, which has also formed a coalition with Sioux Lookout and Pickle Lake to petition the province to change the police costing formula.
In the report provided to the committee, calls for service have reached over 12 per cent per population of 100,000 in 2021, making Dryden a municipality with the highest incident rate compared to both the province and the country.
With only a population of 7,388, Dryden police cost per capita overshadows the cost of policing in major urban centers like Calgary, Montreal, and Winnipeg.
"The City of Dryden is experiencing an illegal drug epidemic resulting in significant increases in gang activity and violent crime rates,” the report said.
The report also stated crystal methamphetamine and opioids are the driving factors of concern as they have brought on an influx of organized crime and outlaw motorcycle gangs.
According to the Violent Crime Severity Index, over the last five years, violent crime has risen 253 per cent.
In 2018, Dryden and the surrounding area experienced a total of seven homicides. Six were linked to gang activity and drug trafficking.
Before the last five years, homicides in the area were virtually unheard of, with one recorded homicide in 1999.
“This year the crime rate has gone up considerably and that’s what’s driving the cost. With the transition to the OPP, we have added an additional 33 per cent of uniformed officers to address the issue, so we are optimistic we can get this crime rate down over a period of time,” Harrison said.
Harrison gives praise to the OPP efforts in their community service; however, the price of policing is impacting the budget to repair municipal infrastructure.
The report states that the cost of policing Dryden has depleted the municipality’s reserve funds to under $6 million, which puts Dryden to in a financial position where it can not undertake critical infrastructure repairs without a provincial investment.
“We are asking help from the government over a three-year period for about 35 per cent of our cost of the OPP. We feel this will put us more in line with the average OPP cost in Ontario. We’ll still be one of the highest, but it at least gives up a bit of a chance to build some reverses and spend for our infrastructure,” Harrison said.
