Lakefield Herald Special Report

Should Lakefield yield its police board seat?

by Jamie Steel

After much discussion concerning the fate of policing in Lakefield the township has been asked to give up its seat on the Police Services Board.

Peterborough City Council’s Committee of the Whole approved asking Lakefield to forfeit the seat on the board, held by Reeve Mary Smith, at the Monday (Jan. 23) night meeting.

This request comes after talk of terminating the amalgamation altogether.

As it stands, the police board is comprised of five seats made up of two provincial appointees, Mayor Daryl Bennett, an appointee of the city at large and Reeve Mary Smith.

Representing 20 per cent of the board, Lakefield contributes 3.85 per cent to the police budget, which leaves some people questioning the validity of the seat.

Police Chief Murray Rodd says the amount Lakefield contributes, however, outweighs the amount of crime in the village.

“Lakefield subsidizes the city, not the other way around,” says the chief.

In 2010 the Peterborough Lakefield Community Police Service reports 19,973 non-offences in all zones of its jurisdiction. In zone 5, Lakefield, there were 425. In percentage, 2.1 per cent of the non-offences in 2010 were committed in Lakefield. Non-offencese include noise complaints, domestic disturbances and false alarms, among others.

As for actual offences, of the 26,832 reported in 2010, 80 of those were in Lakefield. That equates to 0.3 per cent of actual offences in the PLCPS jurisdiction.

Reeve of Smith-Ennismore-Lakefield, Mary Smith, says the amalgamation of the Peterborough and Lakefield police services was a process that, at the time, was fully supported by both communities.

“We did major consultation with the community,” she says of the original process.

“As far as I can remember, and I can double check on this, it was a unanimous decision (to amalgamate).”

Now, 13 years after the amalgamation, the chief administrative officer for SEL is preparing a brief report suggesting a course of action if Peterborough City council approves the motion for the request at its Jan. 30 meeting.

Smith says it’s too soon to know what the CAO’s report will say but says the decision will likely not be finalized at the township’s Jan. 31 regular council meeting.

As for how she feels about being asked to forfeit Lakefield’s seat on the board, Smith says, “When you truly amalgamate services you really need to have representatives from both communities.”

Chief Rodd adds that the adequacy of policing should always be the top priority and he hopes the board and municipal governance served by the board understand their role under the legislation.

The Oath of Office needs not to be forgotten, he says.

“It is not about political expedience or about a percentage of a police budget,” says Chief Rodd.

He says Peterborough and Lakefield have been well-served by the representative of SEL and that throughout the amalgamation, “it’s been a win-win for both communities.”

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