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Town of Brome Lake pays hefty price for provincial police service

Image of the church downtown Knowlton during the winter. The photo is taken between trees from a distance.
The iconic picture of the church across the pond in Knowlton. the Town of Brome Lake is looking at switching police forces for the area. Photo courtesy of Eastern Townships Tourism.
Holly Mueller - CIDI - Knowlton • QC | 28-01-2021
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The Town of Brome Lake announced it pays one of the highest fees in Quebec for services from the provincial police, Sûreté du Québec (SQ).

It is the first time the town will pay over $2 million for police services.

“Always in the past couple of years received financial assistance from the government to lower the bill,” explained Richard Burcombe, mayor of Brome Lake.

In the past, the town has received financial assistance to make the bill for the service much more affordable. The high price is one of the reasons that the town is requesting to be adopted into the regional area policed by the Bromont Police Service (SPVB).

Currently, the price of the SQ is $352 per citizen. Brome Lake has a population of just over 5,500 people. Changing services from the SQ to the SPVB would lower tax prices, approximately a decrease of $68.00 per individual, for the citizens of Brome Lake.

There have been some positive comments about the work of the SPVB, from citizens of Bromont and Brome Lake, making them a more admirable police force to the public.

Recently, since the implementation of the curfew, police presence in town has increased. This is a drastic change from just a year previous when seeing a police car in Brome Lake was rare.

“We want to be covered by the Town of Bromont police,” confirmed Burcombe.

Here is Richard Burcombe:

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