The Perth County OPP Detachment Services Board held their latest meeting this week. A few items came up during the meeting, but the focus was on OPP statistics for 2024.
Inspector Wendy Burrow provided the presentation for the Board, which focused on preventative areas of focus for the new year.
“In 2024, we did see collisions in Perth County increase 11 percent,” Burrow said. “We are still looking at the causal factors for the collisions. We are still seeing distracted driving and seat belt use are the main factors around collisions. Those are areas that we continue to focus on including during speed enforcement.”
In 2024, Perth OPP were called to 711 collisions; eight motor vehicle collisions were fatal last year. During the Festive Ride campaign which went from mid-November until January 1, Perth OPP completed 107 RIDE campaigns, checked over 4,000 vehicles and laid 11 impaired charges. Burrow also circled back to charges that were laid following a fatal collision in March to announce that charges had been laid.
“We laid charges against an auto-repair business because they had certified that the vehicle was in good working condition,” she said. “During the investigation the Traffic Incident Management Team did their examination of the vehicle, and engaging with the Ministry of Transportation through the investigation we charged the business operator with fraudulent documents, mischief, endangering life, and fraud under $5,000.”
Burrow then went through her presentation and highlighted a need for change when it comes to the statistics, as it was noted that Perth OPP investigated one homicide. This was true, but the homicide took place in Stratford and Perth OPP were assisting Stratford Police.
An area of concern is around the number of assaults. There were 143 assaults or firearms related offences which is up from 2023, but the number of violence crimes in Perth County decreased by 2.1 percent overall.
Perth OPP plan on being proactive in enforcement by visiting Perth County schools throughout the year, as well as working on reducing thefts by checking vehicles at local hockey games. All OPP units are also taking part in Operation Deterrence is in support of enhancing border security and to deter criminal activity such as illegal entry, and trafficking of humans, drugs, and weapons.
The Perth County OPP Detachment Services Board also asked staff to bring back a new conflict disclosure form, along with a land acknowledgement. Staff had prepared drafts for both, but there were some concerns around various language in the drafts.
Board chair Todd Kasenberg expressed concerns over the land acknowledgement sighting how each municipality has different statements, and he wants to ensure the Police Board is using the proper acknowledgement.
“There are differences across the three jurisdictions,” Kasenberg said. “I want this board to do the right thing, but it is just a matter of what that looks like, and for us to look into the histories of our areas.”
The Perth OPP Police Board also approved a budget of $2,000 to send two officers to attend the Committee of Youth Officers for the Province of Ontario (COYO) annual conference which will take place from February 19 - 21.
The next Perth OPP Police Board meeting will take place on February 11.
