Cobourg’s police leadership is drawing attention to growing demands on local policing as the Town continues to expand and modernize.
A recent message from the Chair of the Cobourg Police Service Board, Adam Bureau, stresses that funding policing is not simply an administrative or budgetary matter but a direct investment in community safety and resilience. He says strong communities are built on safe environments, where residents and businesses can live and operate confidently, knowing police have what they need to protect the public.
The Board says the proposed budget reflects collaboration with Chief Paul VandeGraaf, who has been emphasizing the evolving nature of policing in Ontario most recently in a video posted to social media: https://www.facebook.com/share/v/1711XwN8R4/
Police say that investigations today bear little resemblance to those conducted decades ago, particularly with the explosion of digital transactions, security camera networks, online identity theft, and cross-jurisdictional criminal activity. What may have once taken a single form and an hour of officer time can now require more than 50 hours of work, involving video analysis, interviews, electronic tracing, and warrant applications.
VandeGraaf says this time and effort now often result in arrests, recovery of stolen property and stronger cases before the courts. The Board argues that this demonstrates why funding supports real-world outcomes that matter to victims of crime.
Police officials also maintain that Cobourg residents ultimately benefit from these investments, with frontline officers responding around the clock. With the Town’s growth and shifting criminal trends, police say ensuring adequate staffing, technology and investigative capacity is essential to maintaining the level of public safety residents expect.
(Written by: Joseph Goden)