Bridgewater police officers could soon find themselves on duty in the Town of Shelburne.
Bridgewater council received a letter asking how much it would cost to provide police service to Shelburne, more than an hour away.
In the news this afternoon the Town of Shelburne is reaching out to Bridgewater to talk about policing services pic.twitter.com/tOYb1tnSlk
— CKBW Radio (@ckbwradio) January 19, 2017
Mayor David Mitchell says it could be a win-win situation.
“This is an opportunity to potentially reduce their policing costs and get a different level of policing,” he says, “and it’s an opportunity for Bridgewater to offset its costs by having revenue from another municipality.”
Mitchell says the revenue could increase the number of officers in the service.
However, he says they’ve just received the request and it will take time to see if the idea is feasible.
Meanwhile, Karen Mattatall, Mayor for the Town of Shelburne says the idea to reach out to Bridgewater came up about a year ago.
She says they’re currently getting police services from the RCMP.
“We certainly aren’t dissatisfied with the service or the coverage. What we are dissatisfied with is the rising cost because it is a huge burden.”
She says this is only one of the options her council is exploring, but one she feels could work well for both towns.
