Enhancing Policing in Essex County

Issued by MPP Leardi's Office on October 7th, 2025

Ontario Protecting Communities by Enhancing Policing in Essex County

October 7, 2025

$713,089 for Essex County OPP will help fight crime and keep people safe

Essex County, ON — The Essex County OPP is receiving $473,089.00 as part of the Ontario government’s more than $91 million investment to help protect families and communities across the province. The funding is being delivered through the Community Safety and Policing Grant Program and will be used for the Essex County OPP’s Stronger Together: Enhancing Crisis Response, Community Safety, Public Engagement, and Traffic Enforcement in Essex County project.

Additionally, as part of its plan to protect Ontario and keep communities safe, the Ontario government is enhancing public safety by investing $240,000 over two years to support the mobile crisis response team led by Essex County OPP. The funding will enable police to work with trained crisis workers to provide the specialized support often needed when interacting with people who are experiencing a mental health-related crisis. 

“This funding will help Essex County OPP protect Ontario families, arrest criminals, and keep our roads and communities safe,” said Anthony Leardi, MPP for the riding of Essex. “I am very pleased that the Ontario government is investing in the tools officers need to fight crime.”

“We truly build community safety when our police services and local partners come together to deliver innovative, collaborative solutions tailored to Essex County. I am proud that our government delivered support for this partnership with the Essex County Detachment of the Ontario Provincial Police, the municipalities of Essex County, Hôtel-Dieu Grace Healthcare, and the Windsor-Essex County Health Unit for enhanced services in support of our residents’ health and well-being,” said Andrew Dowie, MPP for Windsor – Tecumseh.

“Our government is proud to invest in projects that support our police and help keep people safe across Chatham-Kent and Essex County. These initiatives will build stronger partnerships between police and community, improve crisis response, and harness new tools to fight crime. By working together, we are making our communities safer and more resilient,” said, Trevor Jones, MPP for Chatham-Kent–Leamington.

“The “Stronger Together: Enhancing Crisis Response, Community Safety, Public Engagement, and Traffic Enforcement in Essex County” initiative shows the value of working closely with Municipalities, the Windsor-Essex Regional Community Safety and Well-Being (RCSWB) Plan, and the Windsor-Essex County Health Unit (WECHU). By aligning our efforts, we are addressing key local priorities; Mental Health, Addictions & Community Safety, Community Engagement, and Traffic Enforcement which enhances community safety and responds to the needs of residents,” said Essex County OPP Superintendent Mark Loucas.

Essex County OPP’s Stronger Together project is one of 127 projects being funded across the province for 2025-26 through the Community Safety and Policing (CSP) Grant program. The project expands crisis response teams so police can bring mental health professionals to calls, trains officers on addiction and harm reduction, builds stronger community outreach, and boosts traffic enforcement to reduce impaired and unsafe driving. Of the 127 projects, 88 projects will address local priorities and 39 projects will address provincial priorities, including gun and gang related violence, sexual violence and harassment, human trafficking, mental health and addictions, hate-motivated crime, housing and homelessness, and commercial/retail theft.

For 2025-26 and 2026-27, 36 police services and OPP detachments will receive approximately $9 million through the Mobile Crisis Response Team Enhancement Grant to increase the capacity of mobile crisis response teams across the province.

“Our government is delivering on our promise to protect Ontario and keep communities safe,” said Solicitor General Michael Kerzner. “Through this funding, we are helping to build safer communities by ensuring Ontario’s police services have the resources they need to address local issues and improve the well-being of the people they serve.”

The Community Safety and Policing Grant Program supports policing initiatives that focus on local or provincial priorities and provides eligible police services/boards and municipalities policed by the Ontario Provincial Police (OPP) with funding to deploy front-line officers where and when they are needed most.