D’Arcy street was closed around noon on Friday while an announcement was made outside the Venture 13 facility. The Provincial Government announced a grant of $200,000 to Cobourg Police to implement CCTV for their “Next Generation Community Safety Strategy”. The grant covers 50% of the cost of the project which will integrate CCTV cameras installed by the Town and private businesses plus some new ones. The location of some of the new ones will not be disclosed. The idea is to improve public safety since if criminals know they will be caught, they are less likely to offend. The announcement was made by Solicitor General Sylvia Jones with supporting remarks by Mayor John Henderson, MPP David Piccini, Police Services Board Chair Dean Pepper, Police Chief Paul VandeGraaf and Wendy Curtis, Executive Director, Northumberland CFDC.
MP Philip Lawrence was also at the announcement but did not address those present who mostly consisted of the media. (CFDC is federally funded). Since the event was held outside, Police closed D’Arcy Street – I counted five Police cars involved.
Chief VandeGraaf said that “innovation is one of our core values” and pointed to the Police partnership with Northumberland CFDC and the creation of the V13 Policetech Accelerator. Technical details were not provided but it seems the new system is new technology developed at Venture 13 and will integrate all existing cameras plus some new ones. It will include advanced software and do a better job of surveillance.
Chief VandeGraaf said:
Implementing a scalable mesh video network will enforce the overall well-being of the community and at the same time we will be testing and leading with a first of its kind technology within Canada.
New cameras will be deployed “in areas where gun and gang violence and other criminal activity are most prevalent.” They will help catch criminals coming here from the GTA.
Underlining the goal of deterring and catching criminals, MPP Piccini said that a CCTV camera had been instrumental in catching the criminal who had made the recent vicious assault in Whitby. The victim had a sister-in-law who organized a rally in Cobourg on August 22. Report here.
It was clear from what was said by Piccini and others that Chief VanderGraaf is seen as a Provincial leader in both Community Policing and innovation. I note that a total of 18 communities will share in $1.6 Million in CCTV grants by the Province but the $200K grant is bigger than average.
Photos of the Event
Addendum – 29 November
Today’s Northumberland has put a video of the above announcement event online using You-Tube. Here it is:
Addendum 30 November 2020
Press release from Town of Cobourg – 30 November 2020
V13 Policetech Accelerator: Creating an innovative approach for community safety through a Next Generation Safety Strategy Network – A first in Canada.
Cobourg, ON (November 30, 2020) – The Honorable Sylvia Jones, Solicitor General visited Cobourg’s Venture13 Innovation and Entrepreneurship Centre on Friday November 27th with David Piccini – MPP for Northumberland-Peterborough South, to announce that Cobourg Police Service (CPS) has received $200,000 from the Province through the Ontario Closed Circuit Television (CCTV) grant program. This funding will support a project to implement a mesh network paired with an advanced analytical solution and will set the foundation for a scalable mesh ecosystem aimed at prevention, interdiction and enforcement for enhanced community well-being.
Driven by V13 Policetech Accelerator [a joint venture of CPS and Northumberland Futures Community Development Corporation (CFDC) with the support of FedDev Ontario’s Rural Innovation Initiative], this project and funding is a direct demonstration of the accelerator’s mandate to provide smart policing and safety solutions. The demonstration project is at the forefront of emerging technologies and innovations that will drive operational excellence, enabling the interventions that will continue to keep the community and officers safe now and in the future.
Launched in February of this year, the V13 Policetech Accelerator set out with a commitment to drive policing innovation and entrepreneurship to improve community safety, and in just shy of 10 months it is exciting to see the momentum of the Accelerator and the adoption of next generation technology like this with the support of the Provincial government within our local community.
“As I have said before, Innovation is a core value of our Police Service. We are excited to see this investment from the Province of Ontario which will allow Cobourg Police to transform the foundation for community safety. When we joined this partnership with Northumberland CFDC and created the V13 Policetech Accelerator our goal was to have this as a police technology test bed for rural and small-town communities dedicated to adopting novel technologies and new solutions for enhanced community safety and operational excellence. Implementing a scalable mesh video network will enforce the overall well-being of the community and at the same time we will be testing and leading with a first of its kind technology within Canada.” said Paul VandeGraaf, Chief of Police, Cobourg Police Service.
The total project amounting to almost $500,000 will be funded through the CCTV grant, the Policetech Accelerator, Northumberland CFDC and CPS. This Community Safety strategy embraces next generation technology and leverages the best of business, technology, communications and community partnerships to drive community safety through transformative police technologies. The scope of the project will merge hardware (CCTV cameras) with advanced analytical capabilities that will integrate a Community Safety Network enabling rapid post-event response for victim identification and crime prevention. This first phase will lay the groundwork for a comprehensive solution that will look to eventually include data from a multitude of sources including Police, Municipal and Private.
“Through the V13 Policetech Accelerator we have the ability in-house to connect, create, augment and accelerate new concepts for innovation in community safety and smart policing. We are very excited to see this CCTV grant project come to fruition and demonstrate the work this accelerator partnership has done to bridge the gap with Next Generation technology, collaborate intellect and scalable safety solutions” said Wendy Curtis, Executive Director, Northumberland CFDC.
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Did Cobourg residents, through their Council, approve this?
I don’t recall this coming before our Council.
Police project controlled and paid for by the Cobourg Police Services.
Not in Council’s control
Some years ago when a CCTV camera was installed in a public park in Cobourg, I was informed there would have to be a sign posted informing the public there was a camera eye on them. How can CCTV cameras now be secret? Did the law change? Is CCTV mounted on private property a different scenario?
https://www.ipc.on.ca/wp-content/uploads/2016/11/2016-00-09-video-surveillance.pdf
https://www.ipc.on.ca/resource/guidelines-for-the-use-of-video-surveillance/
Thanks for this
Sadly, Cobourg has changed over the years. Many smaller towns are seeing an increase in crime and it won’t be ending anytime soon. Having Hwy 401 at Cobourg’s doorstep doesn’t help as it makes for a quick getaway for those criminals who are out- of- towners. This is a problem for many communities along any 400 series highway. Whether it’s human/sex trafficking or drugs and weapons, it’s become a problem. In my opinion, the use of cameras can help catch those criminals and help make Cobourg a safer community .
Only if they are wearing Licence numbers
So the Province will pay half being $200M. Who pays the other half? The taxpayer or the profits from the business the Police run from the Venture 13 building? While council struggles to keep tax increases minimal, maybe we should look carefully at these “gift horses” from the Province if they will have significant impact on town finances.
A very good question. In the press release the extra money was identified as coming from other sources, but as you ask who will pay for the 24 hour monitoring?
That’s 200K in contemporary usage. 200M is used to mean million these days.
Cobourg’s reward for taking on a major Rehab Facility in Town??? When will we have to start showing Photo ID to the constables??
Looks like Some people in Cobourg are in favour of Crime judging from the responses
do you think its Council ? or the other side of the fence that make their living from crime or having crime to fight ??
Personally I think its a Shame that Cobourg has been allowed to get to this Point and Level of Crime I know a lot is being kept from us and out of the News these days But the Cobourg Police Services Report that surfaced earlier this yr for the period of April to July 7 / 20 sure summed it up with 72 significant crimes taking place in the area from University Ave south to the East side of Cobourg beach to the Police station on the west .
What’s wrong with this picture . Cameras are already in these area s . That were to do exactly what they are suggesting more cameras will accomplish . Not Likely The mind set of Cameras doing the job will just allow slower response times Become more Complacent .
There is no — NO Substitute For PREVENTION not after the fact as someone has already suffered at that point .
What’s wrong with our Politicians Not Jumping on this situation before we got to this point .
They say the crime is coming here from Toronto Then why advertise to bring that lifestyle here
Why bring Drug Types and the life style here . Users , Dealers , or Rehabs
Sandpiper,
You wrote “They say the crime is coming here from Toronto Then why advertise to bring that lifestyle here
Why bring Drug Types and the life style here . Users , Dealers , or Rehabs”
Who is “they”?
“Advertise to bring that lifestyle here” What lifestyle and who is advertising?
Who is bringing users and dealers to Cobourg?
What proof is there that rehabs promote crime in Cobourg?
You wrote further, “What’s wrong with our Politicians Not Jumping on this situation before we got to this point”
The police are not controlled by our politicians. The Cobourg Police Services Board is mostly (3 of 5) unelected (appointed) civilians. Council has no authority over the Police or the CPSB.
I appreciate your concern as indicated by your questions. Your point that more cameras will likely not improve the situation is on point.
Perhaps cops WALKING a beat would be more effective. Show the flag.
Listen I have lived here most of my life there has never been as much Violent crime
in Cobourg as we have now and its getting worse .I live at the Beach now and if you saw what we see daily the Promotion for beach tourism would stop — There used to be 5 Bars, & Strip joint on the main st , Pool Hall Theater , Pinball arcade, Drag strip down King from the East High school ,Ball diamond and the odd beer in Victoria Pk
There was the odd fisty cuff but that was about it . The Police /. Police services board etc Handled it ….. Fun and sports and shopping downtown was great Are you suggesting Politicians are held back by their own Red Tape .
We also had a Jail !
Sandpiper,
I hope you feel better, having had your rant.
My questions remain:
Who are the “they” that say crime is coming from Toronto?
What has the promotion of the beach got to do with bringing drug types and a “lifestyle to Cobourg?
What evidence do you have that “rehabs” promote crime in Cobourg?
“Politicians held back by their own red tape” Are you suggesting that they are not and that that is a good thing?
Take a deep breath and try to answer the questions factually. Please try and separate fact from opinion.
Actually Council does control the Police Services Board. Mayor, Councilor and person appointed by Council. 2 appointed by Province.
The board member, while appointed by council, is independent and not beholden to Council.
Council can pass a motion and direct the mayor to present it to the CPSB which would certainly consider the request but is under no obligation to accept/approve it.
“Not beholden to Council” do you really think Council would appoint someone who would not tow the company line and risk not getting re-appointed by them. In fact they have been voted Board Chairs for well over the last ten years. Defacto control. Gee…I wonder why all that Police Criminal Record Check money went into Venture 13 vs. a Police budget reduction?
To say that crime is coming from Toronto is the biggest load of crap I have read on this blog. Open your eyes as crime is everywhere now especially in places like Cobourg. Look at the drug busts reports in Northumberland Today and most are home grown entrepreneurs probably with many local customers. Time to take of those rose coloured glasses.
Maybe some of it comes from Whitby?🤔
You could right there. Crime knows no bounds.
I don’t care for the idea that citizens will be videotaped as they go about their business in town. A damn good reason to continue wearing our masks, and I’m going to add sunglasses to my face too. Just to be safe from the institutional snoopers.
Videotape is sooo 20th Century. Nobody uses it any more. Now it all goes into “data banks” full of those tiny little flash drives that you see everywhere.
Amazing how much of our private perambulations they can store permanently in their electronic “security” systems.
Your point? Whatever new system Big Brother has invented it’s all the same – spying on people. I don’t like it and I don’t want it in my town. I’m not the only one, either. Check this out.
Coventry (short story)
“Coventry” is a science fiction short story by Robert A. Heinlein and part of his Future History series. It was collected into the book Revolt in 2100.
Plot summaryThe protagonist, David MacKinnon, is a romantic idealist up for trial for assault. Since the government fears that he will repeat his action, he is given a choice: either allow trained psychologists to fix him, or leave to an area known as Coventry. MacKinnon chooses to emigrate so he can escape the boredom of a too-civilized future. He is sent to the rugged outland beyond the Barrier, where people who refuse to abide by social norms are exiled, rather than submit to radical psychotherapy. He finds out that the peaceful anarchy he envisioned is but a corrupt democracy and he is immediately jailed, losing all his goods. Outside of the democracy is a military dictatorship and a group of expatriate of the former theocracy. Befriended by a man he knows only as “the Fader,” he breaks jail. He then finds out that the dictatorship is planning an attack on civilization. He breaks out of Coventry with Fader to warn everyone. He then learns that the Fader is actually an agent of the United States Army, and that he has redeemed himself by risking his life to warn the rest of the country.
I’ll have whatever she’s smoking.
I know how you feel Deb. In the early seventies, the Security Service of he RCMP intercepted and withheld my first class mail. I set up a sting and busted them. The issue was raised in the House of Commons and Solicitor-General, Warren Allmand, and Postmaster-General, Andre Ouelette responded. The upper echelons of the RCMP were deceitful and Parliament was shut down for two and half days to discuss charges of contempt of Parliament. The surveillance and counter-surveillance continued. It eventually led to an arson attack on my residence, and a royal commission of Inquiry.
In summer 1978, the Peoples Republic of Poetry held an event on Parliament Hill replicating Orwell’s opening scene, calling it Re-Verse of 2 Minutes Hate. The Poetariet, (units of verse of the universe) wear white clothing and a chrome faceless shield. The shield consists of a thin film made of chrome mylar. It’s touchy material, however It had the benefit of concealing the entire facial area while at the same time allowing the wearer to see thru just like mirror sunglasses. Surveillance cameras all around Parliament Hill were located in the days before the event. Some members of the Poetariet held large placards in the shape of computer data cards and wrapped in chrome mylar. The placards reflected sunlight down the lens of all surveillance cameras as well as the news media cameras. Sunlight, chrome and white clothing was brutal on video cameras back in those analog days. Here is an article in the Sunday Post that contained an image of the event Newspeaking Headlines, 1977, where I appeared before the (MacDonald) Royal Commission of Inquiry Into Certain Activities of the RCMP. It shows the placards and face shields. THE ORWELL CONNECTION: Troubadours Stage Orwell for’poetic event’
Police Chief, Paul VandeGraaf said, “… scalable mesh video network will enforce the overall well-being of the community …”
Cobourg Police are developing a bigger and better video surveillance system of the Town, that currently consists of those installed by the Town, and those installed by property owners, and several more to come. That will be easily scalable to two or three times or more when needed, ie. expanded. Community surveillance systems never reduce.
If one witnesses a crime, they could call 911 from their smart phone and livestream to the police to record. Smart phones are ubiquitous. This capacity remains underdeveloped. With further development the mesh could meet that objective.
Storage capabilities matter. Especially involving volumes of video. Where will the received data be stored? In a warehouse or in the cloud? Will it be stored locally by the Town? or will it be outsourced to a private company? a Canadian company?
Wally, China has great surveillance technology and I’m sure that they can help by storing our huge volume of video in a secure location far from Cobourg. With facial recognition we can move to the next level of surveillance and integrate everyone’s cell data, Facebook posts and emails with the recorded video. This will enforce the overall well-being of our community. With a few keystrokes all crimes will be quickly solved. Only those with something to hide will object.
facial recognition we can move to the next level of surveillance and integrate everyone’s cell data,
Well then we will be able to identify and locate the outsider beachers without the need for a fence nor to annoy the locals with having to show proof of residence.
Exactly! Since everyone will have their contact information recorded by the surveillance system police will be able to email a Provincial Offences Act Notice of Violation to intruders without needing additional staff. Conor will be delighted!
Along with the Notice, $20 will be automatically debited from their social credit bank account and credited to the Beach Environmental Enhancement Account.
Wait a minute. What if I leave cell phone at home then your idea doesn’t work does it? What if I come by boat then I couldn’t be considered an out of towner. Just for the record I am not a beach goer.
Wait a minute. Depends on the development of the mesh. If you didn’t bring your cell phone, then you will have to show proof of residency, papers or leave he beach. So yes, leave your cell phone behind and the idea doesn’t work, but then access to the beach will not work either. At any rate, cell phones are ubiquitous, and software (mesh) development continues unabated meshing your device to everything one will want. There will be compelling reasons to carry your cell phone for services and products. Check out the social credit systems of the PRC to see where all this is going.
What the heck is the PRC? I Think you are taking this too far don’t you?
What if you don’t have a cell phone? I don’t, and don’t want one either.
“What if I come by boat then I couldn’t be considered an out of towner.”
Of course you would, just like anyone from Toronto staying at Best Western for a few nights would be an outsider.
Ken I really do hope that was written with tongue in cheek! If you do believe what you wrote it only shows your true contempt for people’s privacy, I am surprised you didn’t mention the monetisation of such data for corporate profit.
Its getting there
“Many a true thing is said in jest”.
— my mother used to say that.
Perhaps you didn’t notice that so far only Ms.O’Connor has voiced any objection to increased surveillance. I suppose that everyone feels that only the guilty will be affected.
Ken if you want my NAY vote here it is, I was waiting for all of the usual supporters to emerge from behind their self imposed barricades of fear to decry the fact that Cobourg was so tolerant of the odd fistycuffs and the plethora of bad influences in the good old days, but hate the advent of progress. However if one of the ways to control the population and root out the bad guys is to have CCTV – count me out.
The UK has the highest concentration of CCTV in the civilised world and one of the most fearful and crime ridden urban areas. Has it stopped/prevented crime – the answer is dubious. How effective is the monitoring when it is performed by minimum wage workers much more interested in salacious activities than actual bad guys sneaking around the backs of downtown stores?
I would say that Cobourg, in this venture has made one serious mistake; it has decided to override privacy rights and install cameras in “secret places”. I am sure they will not be a secret for very long.
If you really want to deter crime, at a much cheaper cost, identify the cameras with a sign telling people that it is a camera. After all how many homeowners actually have cameras behind their signs advertising such cameras?
If you really want to know my solution to crime prevention, as opposed to cleaning up the consequences, here it is; Increase the budget for fuel for the cruisers in the fleet. How many times have we seen the cars parked in the back of the Station as opposed to being on the road. Have the officers constantly drive around the Town, being visible, I can drive around Town for a couple of days and not see a police vehicle on the road but plenty in the parking lot; why is that?
So here is the second NAY if you are counting Ken!
Recall the UK tv series, The Prisoner, (Prisoner, The: The Arrival (imdb.com) in which a civilian is sentenced to life in a perfectly run Town, where everything is provided (socialism) except unauthorized freedom. The Town represents everything that we aspire towards. It is an exceedingly pleasant retirement Town, tea time everywhere, no personal or property crimes, very high degree of normalcy in everything. The protagonist is independent; he doesn’t seek out safety and security; He seeks freedom, independence, privacy, those places where creativity flourishes best. These are the conditions that nourish Banksy. Surveillance systems enforce oppression systems aka security systems. The aim is to reduce the spontaneous outburst of fun.
During the 50s 60s 70s the Pav, hosted teen dances every weekend. In the summer of 68, the Peterborough Examiner reported, “Dances at the Lion’s Pavilion in Victoria Park have been closed down indefinitely due to a ‘policing problem’.”
“Most of the teen dancers for whom the dance is the highlight of the week disagree that there is a problem.”
“Chairman of the pavilion committee of he Lion’s Club gave a hasty ‘No comment'”.
“Meanwhile the 300 teenagers who usually go to the dance are talking about picketing the Pavilion or walking the streets in large groups tonight, the first night the ban comes into effect.”
Oh those baby boomers and their tendency to skinny dip and frolic in the water after the dances was too much for the grumpies. So down comes a curfew. And ever since, Cobourg residents have been banned from enjoying the Perseid Meteor showers from a treeless beach. The curfew is enforced with a surveillance camera in the park. Richard Cory.
Unfortunately Wally yes things have changed. From the late 60s the Saturday night high school dance. Don’t recall even anyone barfing during or after or finding the evidence on the walk home. Yes teenagers went for a good time.
Today – what a change. Schools find students carrying knives, guns etc. A Brando, Wild One chip and looking for trouble is too often the case. Smaller things – a vandalism of a community centre in a formerly quiet neighbourhood that was undergoing change. Obscene graffitti spray painted all over a recently done mural. Drugs – have it and they will come – Dealers. I am in favour of the cameras and I believe it is a great step for halting growing crime as people here have said has greatly grown since years past. I believe it has in many respects.
Comparitively Cobourg is a very nice town but like anywhere time moves on let’s not be left behind and prepare rather than sit, wait and do nothing until we say geez how did it come to this state??
“I am in favour of the cameras and I believe it is a great step…”
How ubiquitous do you want the surveillance? Once a surveillance camera is installed, it is irreversible. Surveillance systems are expansionary.
I’ll let you know Wally when they make me Chief of Police until then I trust his judgement.
Blind though it is
I do recall barfing after the Pav dances, after the dances at the Odd Fellow’s Hall, and after the Memorial Hall dances, as well as the school dances. There was almost always a fight, shooting the boots, etc.
The crime that appears to have you paranoid is not much more than it was during he 60s and 70s. I recall because I was the court reporter and I covered all the crimes, including the rapes and murders and other serious assaults, along with drug crimes. Drug crimes were so plentiful in the 70s that a special weekly court date had been set aside to deal with them all.
I travelled thru the commie countries during the Cold War, and I witnessed the consequences of a surveillance society. It was pathetically miserable.
Whenever I am downtown, there isn’t a day when I don’t see the police driving around. In my opinion, they make their presence known.
Previously effective was when police walked the beat, not drove and became familiar with the people on the beat. This initiative was put in place in Cobourg – you often saw officers walking about downtown, the cameras would assist police in knowing where to put more foot patrols. I can think of a few.
“If one witnesses a crime, they could call 911 from their smart phone and livestream to the police to record.“
It’s called the Phink Phone App.
Seems like a good idea…so long as it all works and is kept in working order. Considering the fact that there are streetlights, (arguably a more valuable crime prevetion tool), downtown that haven’t been working for the better part of two years, I’m not optimistic.
Any new tech is going to be buggy and require constant upkeep and that’s expensive. It’s not hard to imagine this becoming a money pit that works about half the time.
On the other hand Matt Cobourg is a growing town. Police will be greatly assisted with the CCTC technology. The Police won’t have to hire as many saving on salaries and benefits. The videos will pinpoint the perpetrators, crime locations and make it possible for every police officer to have a visual of the suspects. My partner grew up in a well known downtown area of a large city. He and his pals (think Slip Mahoney and the Bowery Boys) became adept at recognizing under cover, unmarked cruisers. They delighted on coming across them and greeting them by their nick names while they were undercover – “How ya doing Baby Face?” Cobourg can’t switch up as more, faces will be recognized quickly by the type they are trying to surveil and not go into action until the coast is clear – just like they do with the uninform patrols here – they wait until they leave.
Police were here all summer on drive bys trying to time and catch when the dumpster divers were active, the drug addicts were haunting the lobby, the no goods peering in the lower level apartments, shooting up at the back of the building near the children’s swing play area and the parking lot trying to surveiling cars to break into. As soon as the patrols stopped they began to return. Unfortunately in Cobourg the good these things go on and worse in many areas. A real time saver for police and a great tool in keeping people safe.
I recommend cameras at James st East and John and behind Woodlawn inn if re zoning is approved