New Haldimand OPP Detachment Commander Dave McLean wants local residents to know that what goes on in the county is just as important to him as it is to anyone else.

He's considered Haldimand home before and still does now. Two of his grandchildren attend Notre Dame Catholic Elementary School. And he even intends to retire here with his wife one day.

Back in March of 1976, McLean was posted to the Cayuga detachment as a rookie. Initially he lived in Caledonia, but later moved to Cayuga. During his time here he was involved with multiple community groups, even the local curling club, before moving away to take on new challenges.

Councillor Buck Sloat said that the community perception should be positive because McLean really is a hometown boy.

But the new leader doesn't just bring a familiar sense of community to the area, he also brings a lot of experience.

In Orillia, McLean was with the professional standards branch of the OPP. He dealt with internal public complaints and ethical standards. In Ipperwash he was a sergeant in charge of the Public Order Unit.

"I was there for a long time," McLean told reporters.

Now he says maintaining order and safety in Caledonia is his primary goal.

McLean was on hand to hear OPP Commissioner Julian Fantino speak at private meetings around town last week.

The Commissioner and new detachment commander promise to work with the community and council for the betterment of everyone, and to improve in areas of communication and community relations.

On Monday, Mayor Marie Trainer urged McLean to come back often and speak with council.

With 50 new officers on the way who will hopefully become permanent fixtures in Haldimand, the idea is to create a close-knit atmosphere between the police and community.

With rotating officers in the town over the past months and thousands of postings, many of those called in didn't have a good read on the perception of townsfolk, said McLean. Now officers will deal with people on a regular basis, he said, and will also become familiar with concerns and the history of the issues.

"People want to know that the officer will be there next week and in the future."

Councillors stressed that McLean has a tough task ahead of him. Councillor Lorne Boyko wished him good luck.

Caledonia Councillor Craig Grice said that McLean has been great so far at responding to community concerns and questions.

"I don't know if my residents are hostile," he said. "I'd say they're fed up."

Grice said residents fear Caledonia will turn into Ipperwash.

Residents on Sixth Line don't have policing, he charged.

Even though the OPP will not be patrolling those areas, Mclean said officers will now be responding to calls and have established a joint agreement for response with Six Nations Police.

The situation presents a catch 22 of sorts, according to Grice, because after all that's occurred in Caledonia people are scared to call the OPP. Their mere presence red flags anyone in the vicinity, he said.

"I don't need more policing, I Grice said without a doubt, I need actual policing," he said.

"I for one do not agree with Mr. Fantino on a lot of his comments and unfortunately when he came to Council he restricted himself to private and confidential," Grice told The Regional News. "I am very disappointed as I asked for the meeting and desired it all to be public. I was the only Councillor to vote against going in-camera. Though I cannot go into exact detail through confidentiality constraints, it's obvious that the Province and the Commissioner are truly missing the point that residents have no faith, trust or respect for the O.P.P. I will continue to drive the point home that we as residents currently do not feel secure in our own backyards through the O.P.P.'s own actions or inactions."

 With funding from the province announced last week, Haldimand will be getting 50 new officers, with six sergeants already on the way. The idea is to get the officers here as quickly as possible, according to McLean.

In total, the Haldimand force will have a complement of more than 100 officers when all 50 new officers report to work. Haldimand funds approximately 60 officers on the municipal tax dollar.

Yet regardless of the positive rhetoric exchanged Monday, Haldimand Councillors later voted to have staff prepare a framework for reviewing policing options given the Sept. 30, 2008 expiry date of the current OPP contract.

According to Haldimand's Corporate Services GM Karen General, Haldimand must give a one-year warning if it wishes to opt out of the contract early. Otherwise there are no significant restrictions attached, she said.

The recommendation was put on the table by Grice and was seconded by Councillor Buck Sloat.

"I think we owe it to the public to at least investigate if nothing other than that," said Sloat.

Grice said without a doubt, he will vote to remove the OPP from Haldimand.

The former commander Brian Haggith moved to the Criminal Investigation Division in Toronto.

Complaints about local policing were constantly documented in local papers as well. Before the DCE dispute, an ad that appeared in The Regional News was recruiting people to take class action against the local detachment. Needless to say that's old, rather redundant news now. But significant.

And as the county's Corporate Services GM, Karen General has taken up issues surrounding the contract with the OPP for a long time. In her opinion the province owes Haldimand money because it didn't come close to staffing the full complement of officers Haldimand was originally promised under its contract.

It costs approximately $110,000 for one officer which includes expenses for things such as a cruiser and equipment, she said. But at times Haldimand was short anywhere from eight to 12 officers due to maternity leaves and many other reasons that were legitimate, but hindered the provision of local policing. Whether this would be different with a local force remains to be seen.

The county will be going to arbitration later this year to try and settle the contract dispute that's lasted for years. But only now are Haldimand Councillors thinking about undertaking a review of policing.

A change won't necessarily mean a thing, especially now that the DCE dispute is entrenched in the community. The OPP is here for the long haul you could argue, regardless of any decision by Haldimand Council.

With more funding for more permanent officers handed down by the province, it might be in Haldimand's best interests to keep going with the provincial police in place. Then again, it's provincial police, not a localized force no matter how hard OPP brass try to sell it as one.

Some would say that the OPP have done nothing to uphold the law in Caledonia and whether that's factual or not, one must wonder if we'd be in the same situation today with a local force in place.

Regardless, reasons to oust the OPP from Haldimand must be well thought out, not rash or overly emotional.

While the OPP will probably be here to police the town throughout the land claim dispute and perhaps beyond, there are many things to consider.

Problems with the OPP prior to 2006 shouldn't be forgotten by councillors. They would be better off moving forward with that framework in place, instead of politics or the events of the past year at the front of their minds, clouding everything else.