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Orangeville OPP station reopens to the public

December 3, 2020   ·   0 Comments

By Sam Odrowski

The Orangeville Office of the OPP (390 C Line) has reopened to the public after six weeks of renovations, costing $1.2 million, to bring the facility up to the OPP’s standardized workspace model.

OPP Const. Shannon Gordanier said officers are glad that the facility upgrades are complete and they’ve opened back up to residents for services such as filing a complaint, speaking with an officer or receiving a criminal record check.

“I think it’s been a long time coming, there’s been a lot of uncertainty through the [policing] change but now that it’s open, the former OPS [Orangeville Police Service] guys that we had taken on in the amalgamation, finally have a place to hang their hats,” she told the Citizen.

The OPP took over policing services from the OPS in October, which the Town estimates will save close to $60 million by 2036 and when the amalgamation took place, 28 OPS officers were brought on to the OPP.

“It’s the same guys, different shirts. Policing is policing and… they’re doing a fantastic job, re-engaging with the community,” Gordanier said. “We’re trying to keep things the same, while adding the OPP spin on it.”

The $1.2 million in improvements to the OPP Station include exterior and interior security upgrades, signage, renovations to staff areas, upgrades to equipment storage areas, upgrades to secure areas, voice and data system upgrades, communication tower enhancements, and reconfiguration of property vaults to meet the standards of Infrastructure Ontario and the OPP.

All OPP facilities are built to the same design standards so officers travelling between detachments can function out of them in the same way.

Going forward there’s a number of specialized items still to be complete, which will require extended delivery times.

Gordanier told the Citizen, the OPP is following the same protocols as any other commercial building in Orangeville, those who enter the facility must be masked and follow public health guidelines.

“There’s no contact, we have have the plexiglass barrier between you and the administrative staff, but you are allowed to walk-in, we only ask not too many people in at once and keep the distance like anywhere else,” she remarked.

A little over a month into switching policing services in Orangeville from the OPS to OPP, Gordanier said she’s only heard positive feedback from the community, which is encouraging.

“The community has been welcoming to the OPP,” she lauded.

Looking ahead, Gordanier said the OPP is going to try and target troubled areas in Orangeville.

“We’re getting a lot of calls from citizens advising us with concerns in some residential areas that we’re going to focus on,” she noted.

“As far as anything else, we’re going to try and keep it like it was, but again, add a little bit of OPP flavour to it and see it as it comes, what we can add to the community.”

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