The OPP has announced they are adjusting policing responsibilities in and around Algonquin Park.
Effective April 8, Huntsville OPP will provide policing services west of mile marker 34, and the Whitney detachment will be realigned under Bancroft OPP. They will responsible for policing east of mile marker 34.
Bancroft and Upper Ottawa Valley OPP Superintendent Stephan Neufeld said the Whitney detachment will remain open, and residents there may even notice an increased police presence as more resources are invested back into it.
He said a realignment in 2024 brought the Killaloe and Whitney detachments under the Upper Ottawa Valley OPP umbrella.
“With Whitney, before, they were a satellite for the Killaloe detachment. With the realignment with Upper Ottawa Valley, they almost became a satellite of a satellite. So that really wasn’t the best way to lead that community and supervise that community from a policing standpoint,” he said.
Neufeld added there have been conversations in the past about closing the Whitney detachment altogether.
“That is not the case anymore. In fact, we need to more than ever make sure that we have a police presence in that community as well as a police presence able to respond to issues within the provincial park,” he said.
Neufeld said the public will not see much change with the realignment of Whitney under Bancroft OPP, and the changes will mostly be administrative in nature.
The northern part of Algonquin Park will be policed by the Upper Ottawa Valley, North Bay and Almaguin Highlands detachments.
OPP said the boundary changes will enable them to have more presence along Highway 60 and to better share resources between detachments.
Going forward, Bancroft OPP will be responsible for policing services in Bancroft, Carlow/Mayo, Faraday, Hastings Highlands, Highlands East, Limerick, Wollaston, Tudor/Cashel and South Algonquin.
Bancroft interim detachment commander Trevor Pitts said they’d like to see some local recruitment of officers in South Algonquin, and to encourage more officers to transfer to the region.
He added public safety is always the priority, and that platoon sergeants will send officers where they are needed most. They will also be working with superintendents from Algonquin Park for policing services within the park.
Madawaska Valley will remain under Upper Ottawa Valley jurisdiction.
