Amherstburg councillor urges talks on Windsor police costs

The side of a Windsor Police patrol vehicle.

A member of Amherstburg council wants to see what options are available to have Windsor continue to provide police service to the town.

Amherstburg has been exploring policing options for the town after Windsor City Council voted at the end of 2024 to inform the town of its intention to end the agreement that had the Windsor Police Service handling the job.

Increasing policing costs were cited as the reason for the decision.

Councillor Linden Crain told AM800’s The Shift with Patty Handysides that what he’s hearing is that residents want to know what it would have cost if Amherstburg stuck with Windsor under an amended agreement.

Crain says there’s a misconception that the City of Windsor is not interested in policing Amherstburg, which is not true.

“Mayor Drew Dilkens has mentioned publicly that Windsor Police is interested in having a further conversation about what a negotiated or amended contract would look like,” he says. “For those in the public that believe Windsor Police is not interested, they weren’t under the current terms of the contract, but that doesn’t mean a future conversation can’t take place.”

Windsor has been providing policing in the town since January 2019 after the Amherstburg council voted to approve a 20-year contract with the city and disband the former town police service.

Amherstburg Council had some talks with the city not long after the decision but ultimately voted to end all conversations with Windsor about an amended contract and began exploring other options for policing.

A pitch to have LaSalle provide the service was declined, leaving the town with just two options left to consider: a contract with the Ontario Provincial Police or re-establishing an Amherstburg police force from the ground up.

A town report on the potential costs for the remaining options is expected to be delivered to council in the coming months.

Crain says he thinks they need to find out a price from the Windsor Police Service.

“I think we’re doing a disservice to residents if we do not find out what a quote would be from the Windsor Police Service, what the price may look like, and what the service would look like in an amended agreement with them,” he says.

Crain says unfortunately, council is only pursuing two options right now.

“Is Windsor looking for an additional $500,000? $1 million? $5 million? What are they looking for? The service from Windsor Police has been working; we’ve had rave reviews from residents in the community that enjoy the contracts with Windsor Police. Why not put all the cards on the table and have full disclosure to all residents,” he says.

The 20-year policing agreement with Windsor is divided into four five-year segments, and in late 2023, the town approved the first five-year renewal phase of the contract.

Under the terms of the original agreement, an 18-month notice of termination must be provided, but the agreement would not end until the current renewal expires, which is Dec. 31, 2028.