In October 2018, Amherstburg signed a deal allowing Windsor to take over policing for the town.
The general public probably does not know much about the policing contract. You can read the whole contract on the Town of Amherstburg website. Few people want to wade through a 59-page legal agreement and figure out what it means. Over the next little while, it's my intention to tackle this contract bit by bit, to inform the public, and not to overwhelm the reader.
First, let's start with equipment. Let's look at what the police contract says about equipment.
First, let's start with equipment. Let's look at what the police contract says about equipment.
So Amherstburg owned a few tons of equipment. The equipment was listed in "Schedule 7.2" and was transferred to Windsor for one dollar. Here is "Schedule 7.2" the list of equipment that was transferred to Windsor:
You might have noticed that parts of this list are redacted (blacked out). I would imagine there is sensitive information in this list like the description of police weapons.
The legible part of the list includes a lot of expensive things including four Dodge Chargers, two Ford F150s, 2 Ford Fusions, a Ford Taurus, a Chevrolet Silverado, a Dodge Caravan, a Ford Expedition, body-worn camera equipment, cameras, computers, printers, office furniture, and even vests (31 to be exact). The list also includes four gun safes and an ammunition safe.
Eventually that old equipment will wear out and Amherstburg will need new equipment. Here is paragraph 9.4 of the contract which states, in essence, that every 5-year renewal includes estimated costs for equipment which gets rolled into the fee charged to Amherstburg.
The legible part of the list includes a lot of expensive things including four Dodge Chargers, two Ford F150s, 2 Ford Fusions, a Ford Taurus, a Chevrolet Silverado, a Dodge Caravan, a Ford Expedition, body-worn camera equipment, cameras, computers, printers, office furniture, and even vests (31 to be exact). The list also includes four gun safes and an ammunition safe.
Eventually that old equipment will wear out and Amherstburg will need new equipment. Here is paragraph 9.4 of the contract which states, in essence, that every 5-year renewal includes estimated costs for equipment which gets rolled into the fee charged to Amherstburg.
So in the end, Amherstburg doesn't get any equipment from Windsor for free. We pay for it all. If the contract is ever terminated, any equipment that Amherstburg paid for goes back to Amherstburg, under Article 16 of the contract.
All of which is to say, there will be no financial savings to Amherstburg under this contract when it comes to equipment. If there are savings (which I doubt) they must be coming from somewhere else.