The South Bruce OPP Walkerton detachment is settling into their new digs in the East Ridge Business Park.
The January Police Services Board was held in the board room at the new 12,000 square-foot building, which was first announced in 2009.
“It’s been a long time in coming, but here we are and it’s quite nice,” said board chair Charlie Reidl.
Board members took a tour of the facility prior to the meeting.
“We have a lot more elbow room, but no one’s gotten lost yet,” Inspector Bill Klym joked during the tour of the building, which is 9,000 square-feet larger than the old headquarters on Yonge Street.
The building is equipped with surveillanced interrogation rooms, separate jail cells for men, women, and youth, a seized property storage room, vehicle bays, a fitness room, a board room, change rooms, and plenty of office space.
Sgt. John LeBlanc said the building is large enough to accommodate all 36 officers at one time, as well as act as a command centre for the Emergency Response Team if the need arises.
Ground was broken for the facility in November of 2010.
Klym said he’s aiming for late May, early June for public ribbon cutting ceremonies.

Court transportation

Transporting prisoners back and forth between Penetanguishene and Walkerton is what South Bruce OPP?Inspector Bill Klym calls “a work in progress.”
He said over all it’s going “better than we thought,” but small issues are being dealt with as they come up.
One scenario they’ve come across is if a prisoner held in Penetang comes to Walkerton for a hearing and is released from custody, their personal effects are still in Penetang.
However, Klym said that’s not the OPP’s issue, it’s to be dealt with by Corrections, and solutions could include car-top storage, or a third-party shipping method.

Photo radar

The Board passed a resolution to support the re-introduction of photo radar in the province.
A motion was put forward by the Nottawasaga Police Services Board and forwarded to all PSBs in the province for endorsement.
“As a curtailment to speeding, it certainly was effective,”?chair Charlie Reidl said.
South Bruce OPP?Inspector Bill?Klym said it would target speeders going 15 or more kilometres over the speed limit.
Brockton PSB will be writing a letter of support and sending it to their Nottawasaga counterpart, as well as the premier and OPP?Commissioner.