Province adds 80 spaces at the Ontario Police College: priority for smaller forces

Solicitor General Michael Kerzner speaks at the Ontario Police College in Aylmer Wednesday (Bryan Bicknell/CTV News London)

The province is boosting enrollment in Basic Constable Training at the Ontario Police College in Aylmer by 80 recruits per year.

Solicitor General Michael Kerzner made announcement Wednesday while speaking to a group of police chiefs outside the institution.

 “This will bring much needed relief to police services across the province,” said Kerzner.

The addition brings the number of new officers trained per year to 2,080.

Small, medium-sized, and First Nation police services will be given priority for the new officers.

Aylmer Deputy Police Chief Kyle Johnstone said that the additional recruits will help address staffing challenges.

“Staffing shortages are one of the foremost operational issues at play today. The shortages in any police service are problematic. However, in smaller services the vacancies are felt exponentially,” said Deputy Chief Johnstone.

The president of the Police Association of Ontario, Mark Baxter, said police forces are only just keeping up with retirements, but that leaves no room for expansion.

 “We’re trying to increase the size of our police services,” he explained. “So not only are we having to replace the folks that are retiring, but we’re trying to add more complement to the police services. So, any spot that we can get is going to help,” said Baxter.

St. Thomas Police Chief Marc Roskamp says the boost in fully trained and street-ready recruits comes at a time when his community is poised for major growth.

 “Therefore, we need to match that with police resources and make sure we push down those crime severity indexes and the violent crime that we’re seeing happen,” said Chief Roskamp.

Solicitor General Michael Kerzner speaks at the Ontario Police College in Aylmer Wednesday, Elgin Middlesex London MPP Rob Flack is pictured to his left

The announcement does not directly impact larger police forces like the London Police Service, but London Police Chief Thai Truong pointed out “crime has no borders, and criminals do not have jurisdictional boundaries.” He went on to say that when staffing challenges are addressed it improves safety for all.

“If smaller services, for example St. Thomas, is not staffed accordingly, or Woodstock is not staffed accordingly there’s impact for all police services and communities,” said Chief Truong.

When asked, the Solicitor General was not able to provide a cost for the 80 additional spaces at the college, stating only that it’s tied to a number of other crime prevention programs funded by the province.

In an effort to boost recruitment, last year the province eliminated the tuition fee for the Basic Constable Training program, saving recruits as much as $17,000. It also lowered the education requirements to become a police officer.