Chaleur region mayors ready for regional police force

The mayor of Belledune says his town is more than ready for a regional police force and the cost savings that would come with it — and he's applauding a new study recommending action on making one a reality. 

"What we have now is definitely not working," said Joe Noel. "It's no good and it's been that way for some time." 

The 28-page Chaleur Regional Policing Study was authorized by the Chaleur Regional Service Commission.

It details the present policing situation in the region, the current cost to each municipality, town, village and local service district, and what a regional force would cost. 

Cost savings

The study suggests close to $2 million would be saved with a regional force policing an area that covers 3,300 square kilometres.

In total, $9.7 million is now spent on services provided by the Bathurst Police Force, the BNPP Regional Police and the RCMP. 

While Bathurst is a municipal police force, BNPP covers Beresford, Nigadoo, Petit-Rocher, Pointe-Verte and the local service districts of Petit-Rocher Nord and Petit-Rocher Sud. 

Belledune, Pabineau First Nation and all other unincorporated areas within the Chaleur Region are policed by the RCMP, with a detachment in Bathurst. 

The study suggests that if a 50-member regional police force were adopted for the region, the cost would drop to $8 million per year. 

Belledune currently pays $775,000 a year for policing but under a regional police force would pay about $500,000. 

"The cost of policing is outrageous and the service is nil," said Noel.

Study pending

But it's not just about the money. Noel said the lack of coverage in his town is frustrating, something he's complained about to the department of public safety for three years. 

"We had our own study done here in Belledune and we came up with a solution," he said. 

That solution, recommended in 2017, called for the Bathurst police force to set up a satellite office in Belledune. Noel said it would have been effective and cost-efficient. 

"The Department of Public Safety just sat on that and didn't do anything." 

After waiting two years for an answer, Noel said he got a letter this week from the department advising it was going to study policing across the province, but the study wouldn't be ready until the fall. 

"Meanwhile, we're paying a very high price for policing, over $775,000 a year for 1,400 people and there's no police presence in the village," he said.

'It's no good'

When asked if Belledune residents want a regional police force, Noel said they want anything other than what they have now. 

"What we have now is definitely not working. It's no good and it's been that way for some time." 

The Chaleur Regional Policing Study notes that dozens of studies over the last 35 years have examined the prospect of creating a regional police force. But Noel says all were shelved and never acted upon. 

"Something's got to be done and it's got to be done now. Another study is not going to fix this problem." 

Policing cost concerning

Nigadoo Mayor Charles Doucet agreed. He said the cost of policing is going up and the best option is to join together under a regional police force. 

"BNPP is doing a fine job, everything is really smooth but it you wait maybe in five or six years, everything will increase," he said. "So if we join all together that would be the best thing for the region." 

Doucet is worried being able to provide the same level of service in the near future will begin to cost too much and services will suffer. 

"It's not a question money-wise, it's a question of the future and everything's going that way."

Not working 

One of the consultants' recommendations was to keep the initiative of creating a regional police force moving forward "in a timely fashion such that positive goodwill and momentum is not lost." 

Bathurst mayor Paolo Fongemie said time is of the essence, emphasizing that the status quo is not working anymore. 

"We're a small region of 35,000 of a population having three distinct police forces," he said. "We've proven the inefficiencies, the cost savings." 

He said the bottom line is they want to provide a better service.

"Having one police force for the region would make it efficient. We want uniformity."