Police to keep half its surplus

Board to meet at Cavan Monaghan council chambers

The Peterborough Police Service can keep nearly $100,000 – half its operating surplus from 2017 – city council will advise the police board next week.

At a meeting on Tuesday, the board will review a memo from City Hall stating that council has approved its recent request to keep half the surplus.

Councillors voted twice in May to allow police force to keep half its surplus: Once at a general committee meeting on May 7, and later at a council meeting on May 22.

Both times the plan was approved on consent, meaning there was no discussion or debate from council.

It means the city police service will retain $99,747 – and the police board has already discussed how it would like to spend that cash.

At a meeting in April, the police board talked about how it would like to buy a new fingerprint scanner ($17,819), uniforms and gear for a dozen new auxiliary members ($54,000) and new software to help police make on-the-spot assessments when called to a mental-health crisis ($21,160 annually, on a three-year contract).

On Tuesday, the board will vote to approve those purchases.

Also on Tuesday, the board will review the status of recommendations made nearly a year ago by a lawyer appointed to oversee the board for the first six months of 2017.

Ontario Civilian Police Commission (OCPC) released a damning report in 2016 stating that the local police services board was so dysfunctional it needed an ad-

ministrator to step in and oversee the board.

That was Toronto lawyer Mark Sandler.

But Sandler wrote in a report dated Aug. 1, 2017 that he didn’t think the board was dysfunctional after all. Still, he had a series of recommendations for improvement.

For example, he suggested the board find new ways to engage the public in board meetings (ie: hold meetings in locations other than the police station.)

On Tuesday, the board will review the status of some of those recommendations when it meets at the Cavan Monaghan council chambers in Millbrook at 6 p.m.

Sandler’s chief piece of advice was ignored.

He’d urged that Mayor Daryl Bennett not return to the board, even though it was his statutory right to do so.

Bennett took back his seat on the board on Nov. 30 after a sixyear suspension while the OCPC investigated 11 allegations of misconduct.

Following a lengthy hearing, Bennett was found guilty in 2014 of all 11 allegations and told he could never return to the board.

But then, in December 2016, after he resolved to take the findings to court, the OCPC dropped 10 of the 11 findings.

The finding that stuck was that he'd made disparaging comments about Police Chief Murray Rodd, during a bitter budget dispute in 2011.

Meanwhile, Tuesday’s board meeting is likely to be the final one for Rodd, who is retiring on June 30 after 35 years with the force.

A new police chief will take over on July 1: Scott Gilbert, a superintendent at Division 52 with Toronto Police Service, has been selected by the police services board for the job. His hiring was announced this week.

Joelle.Kovach@peterboroughdaily.com