Police Reports – November 2017

John Draper
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Cobourg Police go to some trouble to communicate with the public – they have a Twitter account, a Facebook account, a web site, an interactive incident map and regular press releases (more on these below).  In most cases, they serve to show that there is not much major crime in Cobourg.  This past week was a little busier than usual with 211 service calls ranging from 11 vehicle accidents to 5 assaults.  Details for all incidents are not provided but instead a “summary” is provided with limited details on some of them.  The Social Media accounts are mostly used for preaching (enjoy your weekend safely) or social announcements (Skate with Police Food Drive) but the interactive incident map (crimeplot) graphically shows where most (but not all) incidents happen (Link below).  Below is a screen shot but it’s best to go to the web page where you can see what the icons represent and zoom in on locations.

For the week Monday the 30th October to Sunday the 5th November 2017, Cobourg Police reported 211 calls for service including: 

11 Motor vehicle collisions, 7 Alarms, 10 Thefts, 5 Assaults, 36 Community Service calls, 5 Threat calls, 23 Police assistance calls and 5 Threatening calls. 

Notice that the breakdown includes only about half the 211.  Likewise, the interactive map for Oct 25 to Nov 1 shows only 85 events.  Below is a screen grab of the interactive site. The only explanation of the omissions is that the map “only contains incidents that meet public disclosure eligibility”.

Interactive Map Screen grab
Interactive Map Screen grab

The “summary” provided by the Police provides examples of their work but lists only about 17 of the 211 incidents. Download the full report (of 17 incidents) from the link below but here is a sample of their report for November 4th:

  • Police responded to a serious motor vehicle collision in the Northeast part of Cobourg, where a motor vehicle ran into a local business. The business was evacuated for safety purposes and there will be no charges forthcoming as it occurred on private property. [The business was Baker’s cleaners on Elgin Street].
  • Police attended a local business on Danforth Road for what appeared to be a swarming of a large group of people at the front gate. Upon arrival it was learned that it was a large group of geo-cachers.  

The Police also have a public Business Plan and report on it periodically.  The last time was April 2016.

They have a profitable records checking service which plans to move to the Venture 13 building but that does not feature in public Police reporting except to a limited extent at budget time.

Links