Rothesay, Quispamsis balk at regional police force

The idea of a unified police force in greater Saint John area does not have support from the mayors of the two largest suburban centres.

Saint John council recently passed a motion supporting the idea of regional policing in the area.

Coun. Greg Norton said it could halt the trend of rising police costs at the same time that crime rates are going down.

Rothesay Mayor Bill Bishop said his town favours the status quo in regional policing unless there are "some dramatic changes."

"Our cost per citizen is one of the lowest in the country, so it would have to be a very good deal before we would be prepared to make any changes," he said.

Bishop said a unified police force stretching from Musquash to St. Martins would not be an improvement for his town.

'I'm 100 per cent behind co-operation, but if we're talking about amalgamation, that's a different story.' — Quispamsis Mayor Murray Driscoll

Saint John has its own police force, while the Rothesay Regional Police Force covers Rothesay and Quispamsis. Grand Bay-Westfield has contracted its policing service from the RCMP since 1998.

The Rothesay Regional Police costs $5.5 million per year and that is roughly split in half between the two towns.

The idea of a combined police force for the five communities and nine local service districts that make up the Fundy Regional Service Commission was discussed last week.

Rothesay and Quispamsis have little interest in pursuing the regional police force concept unless a comparable level of policing can be delivered at a lower cost.

Quispamsis Mayor Murray Driscoll said at a cost of $169 per person, with a good success rate at solving cases, his town does not want to overhaul its police services.

"I'm 100 per cent behind co-operation, but if we're talking about amalgamation, that's a different story," he said.

"We need very little discussion on this, and my feeling is it should go on the shelf."