The events of the Caledonia occupationand the OPP response / non-response have caused the Ontario Provincial Police to become a non-viable policing agency in Caledonia if not all of Haldimand County...

This non-viability is not the primary fault of the officers on the ground for the most part (there are however a few exceptions), it is the fault of the OPP command structure and the policies of the OPP that have been utilized since the start of the DCE occupation. There is no recovery from the damage that has been done to the OPP in Caledonia, they are operating with little to no public confidence and there is no hope of restoring the community faith in them as a whole.

This leaves a few options... The Haldimand Council will need to notify the OPP that their services (or rather lack thereof) will not be extended beyond the life of the current contract. Anything less will be absolute political suicide for the town council.

1. Attempt to contract out to surrounding police services (Hamilton, Niagara, Brantford. My opinion: Niagara is too far removed from the area and will likely not be interested. Hamilton will likely refuse to even tender a bid based upon the current situation and lack of desire to become embroiled in this mess. Brantford simply does not have the manpower to be effective.

2. Contract to the RCMP citing proximity to the largest reserve in Canada and the OPP failure to control / address the issues in this area. My opinion: The RCMP may not initially want to place a detachment here in Haldimand due to the fact that there is a Provincial Police Service in place and may feel that it is out of bounds stepping on the OPP toes. HOWEVER, the RCMP do operate in Newfoundland as a community policing agency while the Province actually has a Provincial force (Newfoundland Constabulary) so there is precedent. Add to this the demonstrated and perceived failures of the OPP and it presents a strong argument to contract a Haldimand County RCMP detachment to replace all prior OPP policing duties.

3. Re-establish the Haldimand Police Service. My opinion: This will initially be a very expensive prospect in that police stations, communications, training facilities, vehicles and equipment will have to be purchased/built. Then a base force will have to be aquired (poaching experienced officers/commanders from other services) a re-establishment of recruiting and addressing the requirements of the

Police Service Act minimum standards ie: tactical units, specialty units etc.. This costing could and SHOULD be deferred heavily by both the Federal and Provincial governments due to their prior and ongoing abject failure to this County and it's citizens especially in the area of policing. The starting point of this new Police Service will be the choosing of it's Chief and whether or not that person will have a spine and be able to inspire confidence not only in the community but also the officers tasked to serve it... (this condition will rule out the OPP command staff who may apply-sorry). From that point on the re-establishment of the Haldimand Police will be able to provide the communities with a sense of safety and security that really has been missing for far too long.

In summary the plain and simple fact is that the OPP are no longer a viable police service in this community, they have failed miserably. The OPP do not have the community faith or trust that is needed in order to police effectively and they have absolutely no hope of re-establishing that faith and trust. The only option is to replace them entirely, the choice then becomes which of the 3 outlined options will Haldimand County go with?

David Hartless