Belleville Police Chief admits community survey on armoured vehicle was a “socialization exercise” and responses “mixed”

During the 2026 Capital Budget meeting, the deliberations on the 2026 Belleville Police Capital Budget focused on a $100,000 allocation for a “Community Rescue Vehicle” (CRV) – an armoured tactical vehicle – and the nature of the public survey conducted regarding its purchase.

Councillor Carr asked Chief of Police Murray Rodd about the community survey:

Councillor Brown and I had a town hall last week and one of the things that was certainly a highlight of discussion was this Community Rescue Vehicle.

I looked at the survey that was posted. Some interesting questions. Certainly the premise of the questions were all geared to feelings. How residents felt uh whether that vehicle provided the feeling of safety. I’m just curious to know what were the results of the survey. I kind of scoured through police service board agenda minutes and I didn’t see any results from that survey.

Councillor Carr

Police Chief Murray Rodd responded that the survey resulted in “mixed reviews,” while revealing the survey was not intended to determine whether the purchase would proceed, but rather to prepare the public for it:

The general impressions were that it was sort of a mixed reviews. There were those who thought there was a militarization theme. Some thought it was excessive, perhaps a luxury. Others who understood the mission of the police and you know what we’re actually dealing with on a daily basis were on side and in fairness to the exercise, it was a socialization exercise not a decision-making exercise. We just put it out there to socialize the notion just to hear you know what kinds of comments would be.

Chief of Police Murray Rodd

Treating a purchase as done and decided before the public hears about it is concerning: Councillor Carr

Later in the meeting, Councillor Carr expressed concern regarding this approach to public engagement and municipal spending:

I guess what I learned today through that survey was is it wasn’t so much for gauging public opinion as the chief indicated. It was a socialization exercise which is essentially – this is coming and we just want this the community to get it used to it.

I’m kind of concerned with that type of thinking because taxpayer dollars rule the roost here in terms of what gets spent and to just think that anything is fait accompli is concerning. I know here internally staff never make the assumption that projects are going to fly by council without some scrutiny and so I know that all the staff here today as we go through their sections sit wondering if it’s going to be approved or not and then you can see the sigh relief as we move on.

Councillor Carr

Fait accompli: a thing that has already happened or been decided before those affected hear about it and  it seems there’s no going 
back on it, leaving them with no option but to accept it.