Matt Turner, Interim Huntsville OPP Detachment Commander, was before Huntsville’s General Committee with a summary of detachment activities.
Turner said the Huntsville OPP Detachment has experienced a staff shortage over the past few years due to promotions and the transfer of officers to other regions. He said staff complements were at about 60 per cent in the spring but that number has inched forward and is now sitting at the mid-70 per cent and hopefully by winter the complement will be in the 80s percentile.
“As well we’re experiencing a much younger generation of officers with that comes a lot of training issues and they’re just obviously not up to speed like everyone else. We have thankfully received experienced police officers, so those are laterals from other police services so that’s happening as well but again they’re not from the OPP so there’s a little bit of a learning curve.”
Turner said statistically, the number of crimes has remained the same except in past years when calls for service had risen due to an influx of the population due to COVID, but those numbers have now stabilized to before COVID numbers. “So we notice now, and this is between Bracebridge and Huntsville, that things are starting to level out back to our normal numbers that we experienced in years past.”
Turner told the committee that impaired driving is on the rise by 63 per cent “and then overall we can say that the severity of the violence involved in the crimes has increased… we’re noticing people are just generally more violent,” said Turner, adding that the trend is generally “across the board” not just specific to Muskoka.
He said cases are becoming more complex. “Investigative challenges such as technology, you know in the past we’d go to a scene before and there’s be one surveillance camera, now everyone has a camera in their house, now everyone has a phone up, it’s very time consuming collecting that data and properly disclosing it in a manner that can be used in court,” he said. “Case law is always changing. We’re always facing training updates as things are changing, and again, the age of our force requires just more oversight of our officers because we don’t have that senior detachment that I remember when I used to be here,” said Turner who has temporarily replaced Detachment Commander John-Paul Graham.
He said the detachment is overall within its service delivery model times as well as its administrative requirements. “We are lacking in our proactive patrols. We’re shooting for a 21 per cent overall direction in that area and we’re only at 13 [per cent]. So that’s something that we need to work on,” said Turner who attributed the decline to the complexity of the calls for service being received and the need to spend more time on those calls.
Turner spoke of the Mobile Crisis Rapid Response Team (MCRRT). MCRRT is a program through which a mental health professional accompanies an officer to calls with the goal to de-escalate situations related to mental health and addiction. The program connects residents with the appropriate community resources and diverts them away from the hospital.
The Huntsville OPP Detachment took on the MCRRT pilot in the spring to service the district of Muskoka. From 2019 to 2023, there has been a 43 per cent increase in the number of mental health and addiction-related calls and a second MCRRT team is being added to the region that will help service the Bracebridge area.
Related: OPP reports a significant increase in mental health-related calls, particularly in Huntsville
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Those of us who grew up running the old concession and coach roads of the past are well aware of how they are all interconnected. With my dirt bike or snow machine, lots of lakes , rivers and creeks were for the fishing. Today, living on any secondary road, we are all acquainted with the existence of our local chapter of the ‘wild bunch’. Some bad wild and some not so much. Hell we even had one local with some sort of ‘fueler’ lawn tractor. We are aware of them, so we make allowances. No one wants to meet some ones child by accident.
Law enforcement is problematic, a cruiser not up to the trails of a dirt bike or snow machine. What we hear now is when some unfortunate spins out at high speed, or makes contact with a yellow birch that isn’t into moving. And the season of the snow machine is at hand. More mangled metal.
What caught my attention in the officer’s comments, was the fact that our local constabulary has only been at 60, 70 and 80% of the required manpower. Might it be reasonable to think then, that such a shortage of people could be part of our problem. If the region has a certain requirement of officers, and you only have 60% of said requirement, seems that something is getting less than full attention.
I looked up what some of the communities are paying for law enforcement; it is in the millions! Don’t suppose that there has been any reimbursements for the reduction in service due to manpower shortages.
When I was younger I always thought I would like to be a teacher or a cop; I realise now that my disposition was suitable for neither. Hearing the horror stories from the people who do those jobs and are expected to be officer or teacher, social worker and healer all at the same time, the task must be daunting.
I salute all those who do those jobs.
It makes me wonder if the speeding drivers (and they are here in my neighbourhood too) are part of the general uncivilized behaviour that the article is alluding to with violent crimes increasing. While speeding is not violent it feels like it when you’re walking and they zoom by !
I agree with Mr. Beatty and Mr. Spivak: Speed enforcement is sorely lacking in Port Sydney, and, I assume, elsewhere. It is routine to see vehicles blowing by on South Mary Lake Road at highway speeds. Any speed limit is only as good as the enforcement to back it up.
The latest crime statistics for Muskoka in the tier two and three crimes, 2021-22 are up by 63% overall especially in the tier two and three crimes. I guess having seven marijuana dispensaries and alcohol readily available between 7 a.m. and 10 p.m. in the grocery stores has nothing to do with the increase in ou crime rates.
The lack of ability to enforce is very evident and I think this adds to a feeling that it’s pointless to call the police as there won’t be a response, it will be ineffective, and the courts give out slaps on the wrist to those that are convicted.
An example the town of Huntsville has created privilege zones for ATVs where certain areas have bans and the rest of us suffer through it.
The OPP are powerless to enforce.
Speeding on back roads has increased to the point that it’s unsafe to walk or bike, the hwy. 11 corridor is like the Autobahn all year.
If money is the issue, get traffic cams, a designated highway traffic act detachment, and urge the province to double down on penalties for DUIs. 1 coviction $5000 fine and 2 years restricted. 2 convictions and a lifetime ban.
And get these damn dirt bikes off the road, your kid gets caught and the penalties go on the parents.
The proactive part is obviously missing as shown by the dearth of patrols in the Port Sydney area. The Community safety zone speed limits are being ignored. Speeding on South Mary Lake Rd. and on District Rd. 10 into the Village is constant. Police intervention would.d be welcomed.