The Collingwood/Blue Mountains detachment of the Ontario Provincial Police is planning to focus on violent and property crimes over the next few years, according to an action plan currently in the works.
During the June 28 joint Collingwood/Blue Mountains Police Services Board meeting, detachment commander Insp. Loris Licharson brought forward a status report on the draft 2023-25 detachment action plan to board members for discussion.
“This is going to be a continuous discussion between our police service, and the police services boards,” said Licharson. “This is a flexible plan.”
“The priorities are consistent with what the data is telling us,” he said.
The 2023-25 detachment action plan is not yet available to the general public as it is still going through the submission process to the OPP corporate office, however, in an interview following the meeting, Licharson elaborated on the Collingwood/Blue Mountain OPP’s priorities for the next three years as outlined in the draft plan.
The key priorities for 2023-25 are violent crime (which includes intimate partner violence), property crime, continued vigilance in drug trafficking investigations, traffic management and community engagement/enforcement.
During the meeting, Licharson said the plan is designed every three years in consultation between the detachment and the chairs of both the Blue Mountain and Collingwood police service boards, as well as with community partners. Surveys are also sent out across the community to gather feedback to inform the plan.
Concerns identified through the community surveys included mental health supports and the response to the opioid crisis.
“One identified concern was youth engagement. That’s number one,” he said. “There are ongoing issues in the schools.”
This past school year, both the Simcoe County District School Board and the Simcoe Muskoka Catholic District School Board made the decision to end structured police programs in elementary schools and to only allow police in schools by invitation. In response, students at Our Lady of the Bay Catholic High School in Collingwood started a petition to bring the programs back, which to date has garnered 650 signatures.
“We had a significant response back, which is very positive for us,” said Licharson, adding the return rate on surveys was about 60 per cent.
Collingwood Mayor Yvonne Hamlin asked how other police service board members could be included in the consultation for the plan.
“At a local level, I’m finding it a bit disconcerting that our local police force is setting priorities without talking to the (whole) police services board,” she said.
Hamlin also raised concern that intimate partner violence wasn’t higher on the priority list.
“I’m eager to have those statistics separated out from our general crime statistics,” said Hamlin, noting she was under the impression that intimate partner violence is on the rise locally.
“If that is where there is a lot of violent crime in our community, I would love to shine a spotlight on that and think about what we can do as a community to try and prevent it. Maybe it’s not a policing matter,” she said.
Licharson agreed.
“This is not just a policing issue; it is an all-encompassing community issue. The pressures that lead to it are innumerable,” he said.
Chair of the Town of the Blue Mountains police services board Jim Oliver noted the importance of the OPP completing their corporate review of the plan.
“It’s important to all of us, clearly, that corporate OPP finish their review and approval ASAP. We’re halfway through 2023 now,” said Oliver.
The detachment releases a progress report for every year of the plan, however the 2022 progress report is also not yet publicly available.
“It took a lot of time, effort and work, but I think we have a solid plan moving forward,” said Licharson.
