Written By Jan Sims
MIDDLESEX CENTRE - Crime and the cost of fighting crime in Middlesex Centre were on the agenda as the OPP’s annual billing statement went before council at its December 17th meeting.
The 2026 bill submitted by the OPP came in at more than $3 million. However earlier this fall the province’s Solicitor General announced that any increase for the year would be capped at 11 percent. That represented an increase of more than $266,000 over the previous year. And as a result, the bill was knocked back to $2,687,360.
The sticker shock experienced by Ontario municipalities when the bills came out in 2025 was followed by the province stepping in to provide relief. At that time, a $77 million relief package was announced because communities were facing huge cost spikes, mostly as a result of OPP collective bargaining numbers.
The annual billing for Middlesex Centre is broken down into base service costs and calls for service cost.
Although the numbers for 2025 are yet to be tabulated, the report to council contained figures for the most recent year, 2024 as well as comparisons with several previous years.
Under the heading of violent crime, the number of calls in Middlesex Centre involving sexual assault rose from six in 2021 to 14 in 2024. Assault with a weapon stood at 8 cases, the same as the previous year and up slightly from the two previous years. What was called in the report “Assault - Level 1” accounted for the most overall cases at 24 in 2024. That’s down from 28 in 2021. Overall, violent criminal code calls stood at 70 for 2024 compared to 56 in 2021.
The number of calls involving traffic incidents continues to climb. It’s gone up, year after year according to the report from a total of 348 in 2021 to 432 in 2024. Property damage to vehicles accounted for the vast majority of the calls, rising from 208 in 2021 to 278 in 2024.
The report also showed an increase in calls related to the Mental Health Act. That’s risen from 24 in 2021 to 41 in 2024.
There were decreases in a number of areas, including property crime violations. The total number calls dropped to 196 in 2024 from 301 in 2021.
