New Police Officer and Weekly Report

Last week was eventful for Cobourg’s Police Service.  They now officially have a new Chief (Paul VandeGraaf) and on 19 August Abigail Amos was sworn in as a regular Constable; she had been a Special Constable since 2017. Her swearing in took place at the Ontario Court of Justice – see photo below.  Chief VandeGraaf said “We pride ourselves on hiring the right people for the right job and it was clear that Constable Amos was perfect for the job and we’re proud to have her as a member of our complement.”  On August 1st, Abigail completed a grueling 13-week program at the Ontario Police College in Aylmer along with 444 others.  On a side note, you may be interested to know that the keynote speaker at the graduation ceremony was outgoing Chief Kai Liu and the Cobourg Pipe Band was there and performed. 

The Cobourg Police Service now has 35 Sworn officers (including Constable Amos), 20 Special Constables and 14 Volunteer Auxiliary Constables.

In other Police news, communications coordinator Laurie Debattista sends out a weekly report on police activity and there was more happening last week than usual – at least that’s my impression.

Week of August 12 to 18

Abigail Amos; Paul VandeGraaf
Abigail Amos; Paul VandeGraaf

There were 260 occurrences including; 17 community service calls, 14 police assistance calls, 6 traffic complaints, 2 fraud calls, 17 suspicious person calls, 24 police information calls, 20 property related calls, 6 assault calls, 3 break and enter calls, 8 – 911 calls, 5 liquor license act calls, 16 theft calls, 15 motor vehicle collisions,  6 alarm calls, 4 harassment calls, 4 disturb the peace calls, 2 threats calls, 3 domestic dispute calls, 1 family dispute.

The report details some examples of “calls for service” during the week – I would call them interesting events.  The full report is available via a link below but here are some edited highlights:

August 12

  • At approximately 12:00 pm, officers on patrol in the downtown core located a man sought by the Cobourg Police Service on the strength of an outstanding arrest warrant. 29-year-old Peter James Munro of Cobourg was arrested for failing to comply with probation.  Munro was held in custody for a bail hearing.
  • At approximately 5:00 pm, 30-year-old Connie Wolters of Lindsay was arrested after attempting to leave a business on Strathy Road with merchandise that was not paid for. 
  • At approximately 6:30 pm 30-year-old Michael Kitchen of Cobourg was arrested after attempting to leave a business on Strathy Road with merchandise that was not paid for.

August 13

  • Officers of the Cobourg Police Service and Port Hope Police Service executed a search warrant at a George Street residence. They seized over 8 kilograms of marijuana, 30 grams of fentanyl and additionally, $3,165 in cash. Total value of the seizure is estimated at $102,234. David Beesley, 48 years of age, of Cobourg was charged with a number of drug related offences including trafficking as well as possessing proceeds of property obtained by crime and failing to comply with probation. Co accused, Meghan Angus, 37 years of age, of Cobourg was similarly charged plus possession of a weapon for a dangerous purpose.
  • At approximately 10:00 pm police on general patrol in the downtown core observed a 66-year-old man impaired by alcohol. He was arrested for being intoxicated in a public place and held in police custody until sober.

August 14

  • At approximately 3:45 pm, Police went to a west end business and charged an [unnamed] 23-year-old woman who was allegedly stealing.  She was then “trespassed from the premise for a period of one year” – whatever that means.

 August 15

  • 32-year-old Cobourg resident Tiffany Bowen was arrested after she attempted to steal a vehicle and “causing mischief” in the full view of witnesses in the east-end of downtown. She was also taken to the Hospital before being released.

August 16

  • At a traffic stop, the driver and two passengers were arrested for various offences: 45-year-old Steven Baker of Port Hope for breach of undertaking, breach of probation, and possession (of one ounce of cocaine worth $2,800) for the purpose of trafficking. 28-year-old Andrew Stephen of Hamilton Township was arrested for: breach of recognizance X3, possession for the purpose of trafficking, and Possession of Property obtained by crime. And a 17-year-old woman, who cannot be named under the Young Criminal Justice Act (YCJA) was arrested for:  Strength of an outstanding arrest warrant, breach of the YCJA, and possession for the purpose of trafficking.
  • Just like on August 14, but this time at approximately 3:45 pm, Police went to a west end business and charged an [again unnamed] 23-year-old woman who was allegedly stealing. She was then “trespassed from the premise for a period of one year” – again, whatever that means.

August 17

  • Police responded to a west end residence after receiving a report of a theft from a vehicle overnight. No damage to the involved motor vehicle was observed but the investigation revealed the vehicle had been left unlocked. There are no suspects at this time.  Police have separately asked that people lock their vehicles.
  • At approximately 9:30 Officers were dispatched to a residential address in the downtown core  after receiving a report of an alleged robbery. Officers spoke with the victim who reported when walking home, he was approached by two unknown women who struck him in the side of the face and attempted to steal his wallet and cigarettes. Investigation continues.
  • At approximately 8:50 pm Officers were dispatched to Victoria Park after receiving a report of an alleged assault in progress. Officers attended and spoke with the victim who reported he had been assaulted by a man and woman over an undisclosed issued. The victim sustained minor injuries as a result of the altercation and was subsequently transported by paramedics to Northumberland Hills Hospital for medical treatment. Investigation continues.

August 18

  • Officers were dispatched to a residential address in the downtown core after receiving a complaint of a bat flying around inside the home. Officers subsequently located and removed the unwanted guest from the residence without incident.
  • At about 10:15 am Officers on patrol in the downtown core, located a man wanted on an outstanding arrest warrant. 27-year-old Wallace Munro of Cobourg was arrested and charged.
  • At approximately 12:15 pm Police went to a business in the west end of Cobourg, regarding an alleged theft from the premise. They found that earlier on this date, an unidentified man exited the store with $55.00 worth of merchandise concealed that was not paid for. Investigation continues.

The highlights indicate that the Police are kept busy, that there are some incompetent criminals around, that they do patrol downtown and that most of the crime is what I would call minor.

Links

News stories mentioning Abigail

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9 Comments
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Lyle
5 years ago

Looks like the Police have been busy doing a good job keeping the community safe, was wondering tho when there would be some ( any ) traffic inforcement on the local raceway aka D’Arcy Street. , there’s a thing called Radar that has been discovered, may be an investment that they could look into and incorporate into their patrolling.

jimq
Reply to  Lyle
5 years ago

We, over on Ewing raceway, haven’t had any enforcement of speeding vehicles in nearly 9 years. Someone is going to be seriously hurt or perhaps killed one of these days. Many children living on that street.

Pierre
Reply to  Lyle
5 years ago

University Ave E between D’Arcy and Division same thing…speeding here also.

cornbread
Reply to  Pierre
5 years ago

How about all the fools that don’t stop at stop signs, especially entering Westwood. Where is our police force? How many on some form of “health or other” leave right now?

Merry Mary
Reply to  Lyle
5 years ago

What frustratingly onerous tasks for the Police, especially when at least two distinct surnames are repeatedly being documented for their offences. As for Police Sick Leave, this Profession routinely deserves both Mental and Physical Leaves…

Walter Luedtke
5 years ago

Cobourg Police Services are fortunate to have a communications coordinator in Laurie Debattista.
Perhaps she should look up hard words like compliment/complement and avoid police jargon like being ‘trespassed from the premises’.

Merry Mary
Reply to  Walter Luedtke
5 years ago

and “for breach of undertaking” on August 16. I shall have to google that ominous phrase after signing out.

Canuck Patriot
Reply to  Walter Luedtke
5 years ago

The more appropriate term she should have used is either staff, workforce, professionals or team. I agree that plain English rather than police jargon is better suited in public reports.

Jade
5 years ago

We will never be told how many I can assure you as I have emailed 3 including Pepper Henderson and Kia. Boys club for sure and they dont like woman officers. There has been 3 global news reports in the last 2 wks . And the new Chief has 2 HR charges against him