Tag: Crime

Police Canvass Community re Safety Concerns

John Draper

Cobourg Police say that “concerns raised online about community safety and crime … do not align with the reports we have been receiving” so they conducted a community canvass in the east end of Cobourg. They wanted to “hear directly from residents about their community safety concerns, learn about any unreported crime, and look at how we can address concerns or bring issues to the appropriate community partner to be able to address the issue.” The problem is that people feel unsafe but it seems that this is not reflected in crime reports – so it’s good to see Police being proactive and trying to understand the concerns. Police have not yet said specifically how they will react to information learned except that… Read complete articlePolice Canvass Community re Safety Concerns

Police Chief Frustrated with Courts

John Draper

It has been called “catch and release” and that’s what it is.  Criminals are caught by the Police, then the courts release them to re-offend a short time later. Today, Police Chief VandeGraaf expressed his frustration with this in a Press Release.  He used a specific example of Cobourg resident Daniel Tyler Foden who was arrested for robbery, death threats and assault of a Police Officer.  He was then released with conditions but went straight out, ignored the conditions and offended again.  Chief VandeGraaf then personally authored a Press Release describing what happened (details below) then finished with the statement: “This is aggravating the level of frustration in our community with a system that does not meet our collective expectations.”  We… Read complete articlePolice Chief Frustrated with Courts

Highly Visible Police Cars

John Draper

Should police be highly visible or blend into the background? This question applies to Police vehicles as well as to Police walking a beat and many Police Forces around the world are choosing “visible” so have painted their cars with a highly visible pattern known as Battenburg markings.  At a recent Cobourg Police Board meeting, Chief Paul VandeGraaf announced that Cobourg Police will be implementing a Pilot project for 24 months with one car using the new markings.  This will help gauge Officer and Public reaction.  Originating in research in the U.K. in the 1990’s, “the Battenburg pattern was specifically created to maximize the visibility of police vehicles; however, further studies are working to explore how it is perceived in… Read complete articleHighly Visible Police Cars

Police Make Arrest in West Beach Shooting

John Draper

With help from Durham, Port Hope and Peterborough Police, Cobourg Police have arrested one “suspect” in connection with the shooting on August 16 at the West Beach encampment and have identified two other suspects.  The male arrested is 19-year-old Kersi Buakasa and he is charged with six offences including attempted murder and possession of drugs for the purpose of trafficking.  Two other suspects have been identified: 21 year old Elijah Kerridge-Lall,  and 18 year-old Alearen Stewart, (details below). Both are known to Police, known to frequent the GTA and the Northumberland County area and they live in Durham region. Both should be considered armed. At 10:00 am today (Friday 25 August) police issued a Press release with details of this action. See… Read complete articlePolice Make Arrest in West Beach Shooting

No visible action by Police, Town or County on Homeless

John Draper

Editor’s note: Shortly after this article was posted, the Town and County issued a statement – see update below. It’s been several days since the Town deemed the encampment by homeless people on the West Beach to be illegal and they decided to do nothing.  Since then drug dealers have tried to sell them drugs and fired shots (well, just one) causing a Police presence but still no word from any of the parties responsible.  There are several news items on Today’s Northumberland and a large number of comments by the public on this blog and the Town’s Facebook page.  I’m certain that councillors are getting deluged with emails from the Public but there’s been no reporting to the public… Read complete articleNo visible action by Police, Town or County on Homeless

Cobourg Police Annual Report – 2022

John Draper

Each year, Cobourg Police produce an annual report on their activities.  The report on 2022 was released at the Police Board meeting on 18 July and will be presented to Council at the Committee of the Whole meeting on 14 August. The format this year is different to previous years – Statistics are not tabulated but instead integrated into the text of the report.  However, I will try to make clear the information that we want to know – e.g. is Crime getting better or worse and are Police catching the bad guys?  And did it exceed the budget which cost the taxpayer 2.8% more than in 2021?  Short answer No! You can download the full report from the link… Read complete articleCobourg Police Annual Report – 2022

Police Activity Update – May 2023

John Draper

Cobourg Police regularly provide media outlets such as Cobourg News Blog with a significant amount of detailed information about their activities.  Not all of it gets passed on to the Public but with this update, I’m attempting to do two things: 1.  Summarize recent information so you can better understand what Police do in a typical month and 2. List online sources where you can find out Police information more often. Cobourg Police provide information with regular News releases plus a comprehensive monthly Operations report.  Listed below are links to where you can see this information for yourself and of course you can also follow Pete Fisher’s reports on Today’s Northumberland.  But first, here’s a summary of available information. News… Read complete articlePolice Activity Update – May 2023

Will Police Heed the Plea?

John Draper

At least one business in Cobourg is concerned about “a heightened public perception of compromised safety and security in Downtown Cobourg, especially after dark”. Ken Prue, of Loft Productions, has emailed the Mayor and the Police Chief with concerns that his patrons will not feel safe at night – especially when leaving shows at Victoria Hall.  Will this be the beginning of the end of a vibrant downtown Cobourg?  Ken says: “The current controversy over the issue of un-sanctioned overdose prevention sites (OPS) has become a sensitive issue and members of the public are speaking out against what is perceived as a ‘laissez faire’ attitude by Council and Police that is creating public risk.”  It is certainly getting a lot of… Read complete articleWill Police Heed the Plea?

Council Acts on Report of Safe Injection Site

John Draper

At the Regular Council meeting on Monday night – March 20 – Mayor Cleveland introduced a “Notice of Motion” to say that Council does not endorse the unsanctioned Overdose Prevention site proposed for Cobourg.  (See Resources below for link to report by Pete Fisher).  This usually means that it would be introduced at a subsequent Council meeting but Council passed a suspension of rules of Order that meant it could be dealt with and passed immediately.  Mayor Cleveland, with support from Council and CAO Tracey Vaughan made it clear they had not been consulted and only heard about it from the media plus citizen communication – at the same time as everyone else.  See the full wording of the motion… Read complete articleCouncil Acts on Report of Safe Injection Site

Letter from a Downtown Business re Safety Concerns

John Draper

Mary Ito, owner of the Northumberland Dental Hygiene Clinic located near the corner of King and Division downtown has sent a letter to the Police Board expressing concern about “unsheltered” people near her business.  The letter is scheduled to be made public at the Police Board meeting on Tuesday 21 March with the staff recommendation that it be received for information.  Mary is not the first person to be concerned about the perceived danger from homeless people in this area – that is, along Division from the Esplanade to north of King and both directions along King as well as West on Albert to the bus shelter.  I have heard reports of bank ATM lobbies on King being locked after… Read complete articleLetter from a Downtown Business re Safety Concerns