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

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

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?

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

It’s hard to know what other Police forces do but Cobourg Police are increasing their level of reporting.  For the last year, they have been issuing monthly reports on the quantity and types of crime including neat graphs showing trends for the last 3 years.  They also report on the number of Opioid overdose calls received. I find the most interesting to be their report on “Investigative Occurrences” which describes a selection of incidents – some of which have been resolved and others are still being investigated. But these reports are not available on the Police web site nor on their social media – instead you need to look at the Agendas for their monthly board meetings.  I have created… Read complete articlePolice Transparency and Budget

We talk about many homeless people having mental health problems, but when you read Police reports about who they have arrested, you have to wonder if many “criminals” are also mentally sick.  Often they break probation conditions, drive without a licence or car insurance and flee from police.  They are often caught in routine traffic stops – presumably because of suspicious behaviour – then found in possession of drugs or prohibited weapons even while on probation.  Why would anyone in their right mind do that?  But over the last several days, Cobourg police have been busy catching – then mostly releasing – many of these unfortunate souls.  Below is a summary of announcements since Christmas day.  We know that police… Read complete articlePolice Busy over Holiday Period

This message needs to be circulated: The Cobourg Police Service (CPS) is alerting the public after receiving reports of distraction thefts in Cobourg and neighbouring communities. In one instance reported to police, a man approached a woman in a parking lot of a north-end business and asked her for directions. While the woman assisted the man, another person entered her vehicle and stole her bank and credit cards from her purse. In another instance, two men approached a woman loading her vehicle. One man told the woman he thought something might be wrong with her tire, while the other man entered the car and removed a wallet from a purse on the passenger seat. Distraction theft is when someone steals… Read complete articleWarning by Cobourg Police

Cobourg Police are continually improving their reporting but you have to look for it.  Apart from their annual report, they have also recently published their budget before it’s approved and now they have added reports that give detailed Statistics of their activities more regularly. (See Resources below for links to articles about what they did previously).  Currently, Communications Coordinator Lisa Munday issues a limited bi-weekly report (that’s every second week, not twice a week) but if you look at Police Board meeting Agendas on escribe, you can find detailed reports that cover recent months.  My review below of the “August 2022- CPS Monthly Operational Report” as available in the Agenda for October 18 will give you some idea of the… Read complete articlePolice Update – October 2022