EXETER, ONT. -- South Huron’s mayor is not happy that the Ontario Provincial Police (OPP) are closing their satellite office in Exeter. 

“Our greatest responsibility is the protection of the people who elected us, and I will not stand by while they close our detachment. It’s unacceptable. I think they need to have some sort of physical presence in South Huron,” says South Huron Mayor George Finch. 

He’s not alone. North Huron’s reeve is just as upset that the OPP are closing their office in Wingham, as well. 

“This is another one of those situations where in a city far away someone thought it was a great idea, so it’s happening,” says North Huron Reeve Bernie Bailey. 

The OPP is closing its satellite offices in Wingham and Exeter by month’s end, to make way for their new centralized Huron OPP detachment that will open in Clinton next week.

In a news release last week, West Region OPP said, “As a result of significant improvements in technology, the OPP satellite offices in Exeter and Wingham are no longer required. The Wingham office will be closing on June 22, 2020. The Exeter office will be closing on June 29, 2020.”

During the ground-breaking ceremony back in 2018, Western Region OPP Chief Superintendent John Cain said that the closed offices in Wingham and Exeter, would be replaced with smaller 'storefront' policing offices. 

“Which will provide an area for the officers to go and meet the public in that community, so that not everyone within Huron County would have to come to Clinton if they wanted to see an officer,” said Cain, in Nov. 2018. 

So far, that ‘storefront’ police office hasn’t opened in either community. 

“Just to remove a detachment without a reason is irresponsible, as far as I’m concerned. There’s no reason to do it,” says Finch. 

Finch and Bailey say their dismay lies at the feet of OPP decision makers outside of Huron County. They appreciate everything the officers on the ground do for their communities.

Their concern is with how those officers will now cover their areas, year-round, with no local building to talk to witnesses in, or simply have a place to go to the bathroom. 

“If the OPP have to come from Clinton, and the roads are closed, how do they protect our citizens? I’m just not sure how this is going to work out,” says Bailey. 

The new Huron County OPP detachment in Clinton, which cost $20 million, opens on June 22. An OPP office will remain open on Goderich’s town square.