POLICE SERVICES

IN CASE OF POLICE EMERGENCY CALL 9-1-1

The Ontario Provincial Police (OPP) provide our municipality with services that ensure the safety and security of the people in the Township of O'Connor.

Contact the OPP

For Police emergencies call 9-1-1.

For all non-emergency calls, contact the local OPP Detachment:

3267 Highway 130

Rosslyn, ON P7K 0B1

Phone: 1-807-939-2133

Citizen self reporting

The OPP have an online reporting tool that allows you to report minor occurrences such as theft, lost property and driving complaints that occurred in areas policed by the OPP.

Please follow the steps to filing an online police report outlined on the OPP website.

Lakehead Police Services Board

O’Connor Council, with Municipality of Neebing, and Township of Conmee embarked on a joint police contract for OPP services.  Having a contract (rather than default policing by OPP) is advantageous because:

1.  The OPP are enabled to enforce municipal by-laws;
2.  The Police Service Board is eligible to apply for grants for certain police programs; and
3.  A Police Service Board has some (but not a lot) greater authority than a Community Policing Advisory Committee, and has access to more information.

The Board consists of five members appointed by the Province and the municipalities:

• David Halvorsen (Municipal Council Appointee)
• Brian Wright (Municipal Council Appointee)
• Greg Croft (Municipal Community Appointee)
• Axel Nowak (Provincial Appointee)
• Cathy Woodbeck (Provincial Appointee)

The Lakehead Police Services Board meets four times per year and meetings are open to the public. Contact the Board Secretary if you wish to speak or make a submission to the Board.

Erika Kromm, Board Secretary
c/o Municipality of Neebing
4766 Highway 61
Neebing, ON   P7L 0B5
Phone: (807) 474-5331
Email Board Secretary

Community Safety and Well-Being Plan

We thank everyone that took the time to fill out the Community Safety and Well-Being Plan Survey.  We all want to live in a safe and healthy community – and while many of us feel that we already do – this pro-active planning process will help us keep it that way!   To read the plan, please click on the Community Safety and Well Being Plan - June 2021.

Changes to the Police Services Act in 2019 make it mandatory for all municipalities in Ontario to have a “Community Safety and Well-Being Plan”.  The Townships of Gillies, O’Connor and Conmee are working together with the Municipality of Neebing to create a joint plan which will serve all 4 communities.  As northern, rural municipalities, we share many characteristics, and can be more  efficient by working on this important plan together.

What exactly is a “Community Safety and Well-Being Plan”, you ask?  That is a very good question!  As you can imagine, since the requirement is embedded in the Police Services Act, it does involve community safety in terms of crime reduction and crime prevention – but it involves more than just policing.

There are a lot of demands on our police services.  As we all know, police are often called upon to respond to complex situations that are non-criminal in nature.  Many of these situations, such as an individual experiencing a mental health crisis, would be more appropriately managed by other    community partners.  Working with community stakeholders to determine what problems we actually face and what might be done to eliminate those problems is a forward-thinking activity.  Studies show that communities with these types of plans in place experience improvements to the statistics relating to crime and crime response.

What makes someone resort to committing a crime?  There are many, many factors – and – of course – people are unique and have individual circumstances.  Governments are recognizing,  however, that the “social determinants of health”, which are the conditions in which people are born, grow, work, live, and age (such as education, early childhood development, food security, quality housing, etc.) have major impacts on how individuals develop, grow, and participate properly and lawfully in their communities.  All of these considerations are part of the Community Safety and Well-Being Plan.