Cobourg Police recently released their updated Strategic Plan – and it includes a fresh summary of major public concerns: 1. Drugs (prevention, support, enforcement) 2. Mental Health 3. Community Involvement 4. Homelessness 5. Traffic Enforcement. It’s significant that Mental Health is now near the top of the list for concerns and Homelessness is on the list. Many calls to Police are really calls for help for people with these issues and not crimes so Police are changing what they do. Yesterday, MPP David Piccini announced that the Province is providing $860K in funding over 3 years to help Cobourg Police with programs aimed at Mental Health and Homelessness. Now supported are the Homelessness Addictions Response Project (HARP – $410K), a new program called Youth Mental Health Engagement and Response Team (M-Heart) and also for the integration of Equity, Diversity and Inclusion principles into day to day policing ($449K).
The Police announcement says that the funding will allow Police to:
- Strengthen collaborative community approaches in addressing challenges facing our community.
- Respond to the growing mental health and wellness needs of the community.
- Increase the number of new partnerships between the police and other industry sector experts.
- Enhance integration of Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion principles through policies, training programs, and hiring practices.
Police Chief Paul VandeGraaf said: “The impact of drugs, homelessness and mental health in our community have emerged as key priorities,” and the grants “… will better prepare us to maintain capacity, strengthen collaborative community approaches, and tackle new and emerging challenges through HARP and the new youth M-HEART initiative.”
The announcement took place at 8:30 am May 2 on King Street outside the Police Station.
Below is a photo of key people at the announcement.
L to R – Deputy Chief Jeff Haskins, Mayor John Henderson, Staff Sergeant Janice MacDonald (developed and championed HARP), CPSB Chair Dean Pepper, CAO Roger Ramkissoon, Youth Counsellor Kally Mitchell (FourCAST – joins M-HEART team), Amy Eriksson M-HEART Social Worker, Constable Cindy Reeves (Community Resource Officer), Constable Brent Sedgwick (M-HEART), Chief Paul VandeGraaf, Minister David Piccini.
Resources
- Cobourg Police Strategic Plan 2022-2025 – hosted on Cobourg Police Web site
- Extract from 2021 Annual Report describing HARP and M-Heart (4 pages pdf)
- Report on Cobourg News Blog about Police 2021 report – 17 March 2022 – includes link to full report
- Video of announcement on You-Tube – Link to Police You-Tube
Print Article:
At the heart of the growing involvement of police in social issues is the fact that the genius of crime is, for the most part, the failure of an individual to respect commonly accepted values.
The values that we as a community share, eg “do unto others as you would have them do unto you!” or the myth of the independent individual, or “thou shall not steal”, form a type of screen test that determines who is or is not a criminal.
In general we have no objection to the practice of crime-prevention. Why therefore should anyone object to the growing involvement of police, working alongside other knowledgeable individuals, in addressing “social issues” that are associated with crime.
The initiative by Cobourg Police several years ago to provide overnight shelter for the homeless was not only the right thing to do, it was brilliant.
Keith Oliver made the following comments: “the failure of an individual to respect commonly accepted values.” “the myth of the independent individual” “inability of Americans to discuss and argue controversial issues in a rational manner, issues such as individual freedom,”
He has made many similar comments in other threads. They always devalue, diminish, and degrade the individual. The collectivist mindset has little if any respect for the individual.
Below are a few individuals of high accomplishment that collectivists devalue:
“To be yourself in a world that is constantly trying to make you something else is the greatest accomplishment.”
― Ralph Waldo Emerson
“Whenever you find yourself on the side of the majority, it is time to reform (or pause and reflect).”
― Mark Twain
“The individual has always had to struggle to keep from being overwhelmed by the tribe. If you try it, you will be lonely often, and sometimes frightened. But no price is too high to pay for the privilege of owning yourself.”
― Friedrich Nietzsche
“The surest way to corrupt a youth is to instruct him to hold in higher esteem those who think alike than those who think differently.”
― Friedrich Nietzsche
“I like it when a flower or a little tuft of grass grows through a crack in the concrete. It’s so &%$@#’ heroic.”
― George Carlin
“Two roads diverged in a wood, and I –
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference.”
― Robert Frost
“Wanting to be someone else is a waste of who you are”
― Kurt Cobain
“I often warn people: “Somewhere along the way, someone is going to tell you, ‘There is no “I” in team.’ What you should tell them is, ‘Maybe not. But there is an “I” in independence, individuality and integrity.”
― George Carlin
“Conformity is the jailer of freedom and the enemy of growth.”
― John F. Kennedy
“Anybody can learn to think, or believe, or know, but not a single human being can be taught to feel… the moment you feel, you’re nobody ― but-yourself ― in a world which is doing its best, night and day, to make you everybody else ― means to fight the hardest battle which any human being can fight, and never stop fighting.”
― e.e. cummings,
“The worst curse to befall anyone is stagnation, a banal existence, the quiet desperation that comes out of a need for conformity. ”
― Deepak Chopra,
Wally
Wonderful quotes encouraging individuals to become themselves, think independently.
Nietzsche and cummings are among my favourites. The former’s “Thus Spoke Zarathustra” and it’s caution that an individual not deny himself, and cummings’ song “I thank You God for most this amazing day” which I often say as grace before dinner when it’s my turn.
However, the individual behaviour you’re talking about is far different from the behaviour I’m talking about or the police are referring to … unless you think it’s acceptable for an individual who needs a computer to reach his/her full potential (but doesn’t have the money to acquire one), to break into their neighbour’s house and steal one.
What is the “myth of the independent individual” and why do you denigrate and diminish the individual constantly in its most generic form rather than specificity.
Wally
Because Wally, unless you live by yourself on top of a mountain or choose to completely isolate yourself in some remote ecosystem, there is no such thing as individual absolute freedom.
Even how you make the necessary modifications to that chosen environment and find the food to survive (unless you can do it naked using only tooth and claw) depends, and is compromised by, the range of tools supplied by others.
Join anothers in any kind of partnership such as a marriage or business, become a part of a community of others, and your freedoms become limited. Behave in such circumstances as an absolutely free man and chances are you will commit a crime. It’s called law-and-order.
Do you not agree? If not please explain why!
Second: Is not your primary concern about the freedom of a well developed, free-thinking individual to become creative and find the means by which he can express himself?
As I’ve said previously I’m all for that but, again, there are limits if you live with others.
(The following is an extreme example but is relevant to this conversation.)
In the name of artistic expression and as an act of artistic freedom, in your opinion, am I not free to demonstrate my concern about unexpected events that effect all of our lives, to grab some child from it’s mother, slit it’s throat and hang him from a lamp post on King Street?
Is that henious act justified by your support of artistic freedom!
Please provide an answer.
“…to grab some child from it’s mother, slit it’s throat and hang him from a lamp post on King Street? Is that henious act justified by your support of artistic freedom!”
That is a strawman argument. “a weak or imaginary opposition (such as an argument or adversary) set up only to be easily confuted.” –Merriam-Webster. Honestly Keith, I presumed you to be more astute than to make such a sophomoric argument. My misjudgment.
However, there are individuals with freedom to commit such heinous acts. For example, ISIS fighters could do such heinous things to infidels, or Hamas fighters could turn a mentally challenged boy into a suicide bomber, or Ukrainian nazis could shoot Russian POWs in the legs or burn Russians alive in Odessa’s Trade Unions House, May 2, 2014 while the Nobel Peace Prize recipient, Barrack Obama, justified the action at a joint White House press conference with German Chancellor Angela Merkel, explicitly endorsing the military offensive being carried out by the unelected Kiev government against protesters occupying official buildings in eastern Ukraine.
Keith, I used to go on smuggling ops in and out of those countries in E. Europe. I am familiar with their deceptions and Ukrainian nazis continue such cruelties to this day. The Russians also freely commit such heinous crimes. The West is being duped, at the expense of the Ukrainian people. We owe those people billion$$ in humanitarian aid for the crimes we have instigated against them.
there is no such thing as individual absolute freedom. Behave in such circumstances as an absolutely free man and chances are you will commit a crime. It’s called law-and-order.
Again, a strawman argument. No one I know has ever proselytized absolute freedom. Your notion of freedom is silly.
The govt is free to commit crimes against individuals. For example, the Security Service of the RCMP illegally intercepted my mail, illegally withheld my mail, illegally published the contents of my mail. They illegally traced my identity and the identity of others via our social insurance numbers. they wiretapped my phone without a warrant. They went to my employer and informed him that they suspected I was a subversive; I lost my job. They went to my landlord and said the same; I was evicted. It ended with an arson attack on my flat in Toronto. That’s the law and order to which you supplicate yourself.
I freely smuggled art, literature, music, hard currency in and out of socialist dictatorships knowing that I was breaking their unjust oppressive laws. I did it with the dual purpose of aiding my fellow creatives and subverting dictatorships. I had no respect for their flaw and disorder.
Free speech exists for the creatives and it also exists to incite regime change from the people. Creativity by its very nature is wonderfully transgressive and delightfully offends the stultifying collective.
However, I have asked why you have constantly denigrated, degraded and diminished individuality in favour of the collective. You have never given me the courtesy of an answer, although I have answered your query. I guess that is the way you are following your role model Justin all talking points without answering any questions as asked.
Keith Oliver said, “the failure of an individual to respect commonly accepted values.”
It is not a failure. It is a success. Committees, govts, mobs, groups invent and create nothing. Individuals invented the electric light, the airplane, the phonograph, the telephone. Individuals composed symphonies, poetry, novels, art, thereby enriching our lives. The collectivist creates mediocrity. Proof? Look at all the socialist dictatorships with their collectivist theories – stagnation and failure.
Look what a single individual immigrant has done for America – Elon Musk. Created cheap space transport, revolutionized car manufacturing, provided more high paying jobs than govts. And yet he is vilified by the collectivist left.
Keith
70 yrs ago my father was able to get a job with GM with a grade 9 education. It was instilled upon him the importance of personal responsibility, reputation and a strong work ethic.
40 yrs ago I was able to start a very rewarding career with a high school diploma. Again it was instilled on me, the same values of personal responsibility, reputation, work ethic and the importance of continuous learning.
I quickly learned to avoid trying to live my life like those of the rich and famous that was blasted to us thru out the 80’s and 90”s. Success for me was measured in the love and nurturing support to my wife and kids and ensuring my kids success in whatever endeavours they took-school, sports etc.
Today we are injecting more money into our education system, with poorer results than previous generations.
We have more material goods , more travel destinations, more connectivity with more people than ever before. And yet people are more depressed, suffering from more mental health issues, struggling with who they are as a person, what gender they are and how society sees them and how the measure their success against their fellow man.
People are collapsing under this societal burden, they see no hope and surrender to world of drugs for that temporary release from the pain of life’s burden.
But what does society do, we treat symptoms- temporary housing, anti depressants, food banks and numerous other govt and private programs that support but never move people to a better position in life. Hell its become a business/ slash industry. The people who run these programs and support these struggling indiviuals, live lives that their clients could only wish for.
Until we start correcting the root problems-need for strong cohesive two parent families, education that delivers; ensuring students can read and write and know basic math before graduation. Success is merit based-because of a strong work ethic and personal responsibility.
And success comes in different forms and is not based or measured by the U.S. Hollywood Model of fame and fortune.
Unfortunately we will keep throwing more and more money into the black hole of social justice and yet the problems keep compounding.
Pete M
An accurate description of challenges that society presents to us all and how worth is presently measured … but not that different from those that existed in the past. Hopefully we’re learning.
Wally’s quotes should be part of any school’s curriculum, a lesson in how true self fulfillment is the source of true contentment and satisfaction.
I use the word “contentment” instead of “happiness” because I don’t know what “happiness” means. So called “happiness” always seems so temporary, so fleeting.
What you posted – kudos.
“Until we start correcting the root problems-need for strong cohesive two parent families, education that delivers; ensuring students can read and write and know basic math before graduation. Success is merit based-because of a strong work ethic and personal responsibility.”
I recommend Thomas Sowell. He is an astute historian. Listen to any of his videos and you will be enriched. Talk about merit-based, strong work ethic and personal responsibility.
https://youtu.be/mS5WYp5xmvI
Wally
Once again we’re talking about two very different kinds of individualism
Yours invariably subsumes the individual to the collective. For example: I was kicked out of Cobourg District Collegiate Institute because my hair hung a half inch over my ears. the issue was grooming, so the collective (public school) denied me the opportunity to get an education because I had transgressed social norms over such a petty matter.
I got a good education from that experience. I learned about injustice, that injustice invariably comes from the collective, the mob, demanding conformity from an individual.
I have read almost everything you have posted on his blog and not once have I ever read your support for any individual let alone any kind of individualism other than conform to authorities.
Free speech is the best vehicle for promoting creativity. It is also the best vehicle for regime change, whether municipal, provincial, federal, or any other collective.
Note that 81,000,000 Americans voted for the war against Russia by using the Ukrainian people as cannon fodder. Do you hear any dissenting voices in the msm? None on the govt news channel CBC. Dissenting voices are cancelled, deplatformed, ignored and condemned. Your notion of individualism is a sick joke.
Wally
Once again not the individualism I’m talking about.
Wally
If your experience at school that resulted in not having a formal education was to be repeated today, I’d be on the front lines demanding reforms and more compassionate treatment of students.
Your statement that I support only the kind of individualism that “conforms to authorities” represents a total missunderstanding of what I’ve posted on this and other blogs.
I don’t trust this spurt of gush coming from a shill for govt
The number of senior men who answer Johns blog with nothing but negativity is depressing…
Im sure their wives are happy that they have an outlet for their anger…but if the police of today
actually have training to help youth with mental health issues and drug problems all for the good..
If the homeless were given an affordable roof over their head and a way to get a job a lot of these break and enter crimes might lessen…there will always be those in our community who find life too hard to cope with so drugs and homelessness is here forever…but we can cut the numbers by helping those who have fallen on hard or depressing times.
As to the running the stop signs crime…I thought traffic laws were for safety…if you can see no
traffic at an intersection I think a rolling stop is fine. I see the police do it all the time at my corner
And speeders? The price of gas might slow them down…
Canada brings in about 60,000 foreign workers each year just in agriculture jobs…the total is much, much higher. Perhaps if some of these unfortunate individuals would grasp these jobs and show up for work on a steady basis, some of these social problems would disappear. Your argument on rolling stop does not hold water…stop means stop.
Have a look at Portland, Oregon…it started with homeless people about 5 years ago…now it has “Antifa”. Police can’t handle the problem, now you almost have “Mob Rules” in this city. Be careful how you handle this homeless situation!
Cornbread, you might be interested in how Belleville dealt with their problem of vagrants. See page 8 of the newsletter at https://cdhs.ca/images/newsletters/NewsletterJan22.pdf
Cornbread
Give us the source for your statement regarding the homeless in Portland and the link to Antifa.
As far as I understand it the recent public disturbances in Portland are a result of the growing inability of Americans to discuss and argue controversial issues in a rational manner, issues such as individual freedom, gun control, abortion. Has nothing to do with the issue of homelessness
Just dial up Portland Antifa Tent City on the internet Keith…how unresorceful can you be?
Antifa vandalizes church that serves the homeless – Standing for Freedom Center
Keith, the article at https://www.forbes.com/sites/billconerly/2021/01/28/death-of-a-city-the-portland-story/ gives a pretty good summary of the Portland situation including homelessness and Antifa although it doesn’t mention individual freedom nor abortion as contributors.
What about “Break & Enter Thefts” seems to me the solve rate on this area of policing was not very high. Don’ t change our force into babysitters and social workers. The number of speeders and stop sign runners in Cobourg is still a problem.
Sorry,break and enter is part of the catch and release social program