Over the past few weeks, Cobourg Police seem to be arresting more bad guys – or maybe they are just reporting more despite having recently lost their communications person.  There’s talk that since Peterborough ejected the “tent city” people, some have come to Cobourg but if that’s true, it doesn’t explain most of those arrested.  Police are transparent about what they do and issue Press Releases regularly so I’ve summarized 19 of their emails to get an overall picture.  One of these is a “weekly summary” from a week ago which lists calls received and more details of a few of them. As of August 23, the Cobourg Police Service had 35 sworn officers, 20 Special Constables and 14 Volunteer… Read complete articleUpdate on Police Activity

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… Read complete articleNew Police Officer and Weekly Report

On July 29, from 9:00 am to 3:00 pm. Cobourg Police teamed up with the Ministry of Transportation, the Ministry of Environment and the OPP to do a blitz in accordance with the July S.T.E.P program.  For the month of July,  S.T.E.P. (Selective Traffic Enforcement Program) focused on unsafe loads, commercial motor vehicles, unsafe motor vehicles, modified motor vehicles and loud mufflers (unnecessary noise violations).  The blitz resulted in 22 charges for violations – details are below.  A temporary inspection site was set up in the parking lot of the Fellowship Baptist Church on Elgin near the corner of William/Burnham. Below are some photos of the event (supplied by the Police) plus I have added some highlights of Cobourg Police… Read complete articlePolice Join Forces to Nab Vehicle Offenders

Maybe it’s Spring that brings them out but lately Cobourg police have arrested several people for drug offences. It also seems that Police foot patrols in the downtown core have helped with this. One of those arrested, 43 year old Eric Bremner, seems to not know how to stay out of trouble – not only was he arrested for possessing fentanyl and carrying a “concealed weapon”, a knife, but he was also charged with “failing to appear in court” and violating probation. In February, he was charged with stealing credit cards then buying stuff with them. This time, instead of the common Police practice of releasing from custody with a promise to appear, he was held for a bail hearing…. Read complete articleMultiple arrests for drug offences

A year ago, a safe was stolen from a residence in Cobourg and on the same day a vehicle was stolen.  Unfortunately for the criminal involved, he had been in trouble before (and was on Probation) so his DNA was in the DNA Databank.  Samples from both crime scenes were sent to the Centre of Forensic Sciences in Toronto to be processed with the result that recently 27 year old, Baltimore resident, Andrew Christian Drysdale was charged with both crimes.  “Processing the crime scene” is done by a Forensics Identification Officer (FIO) – just like on the TV shows, they dust for fingerprints, take photographs, collect swabs, and maintain a secure scene.  But in this case and going forward, the… Read complete articleCobourg Police now have Forensic Investigation Officer

Cobourg Police are continuing to improve their transparency and efficiency and for those reasons recently hired Laurie Debattista as their Corporate Communications Coordinator.  As well as freeing up officers from this work, Laurie is also upgrading the process.  As well as being sent out by email, information on activities is now also sent out via Twitter and added to the police web site.  The web site is also being re-vamped with a new version scheduled for this summer. Cobourg News blog does not report on every incident – for that you should follow the Police Twitter account or maybe go to Pete Fisher’s Today’s Northumberland – but sometimes I do report to give an overview on how well our police… Read complete articlePolice Upgrade Communication with Public

We tend to think that the drug trade only happens in Toronto and not in Cobourg but on Tuesday Feb 26, Cobourg and Port Hope Police arrested two men caught in the act of buying/selling cocaine.  The seller, 24 year old Daniel Campbell-Johnson of Ajax, also had a loaded .45 semi-automatic and was held overnight for a bail hearing. The buyer, 69 year old Floyd Graham of Cobourg, was released pending a court appearance.  The Cobourg Police Press release said that “Officers were in the area of John Street and James Street in the Town of Cobourg and observed a drug transaction between two males.  Both males were arrested and a loaded firearm was recovered along with a substantial quantity… Read complete articleDrug Trafficking in Cobourg

Starting in mid-January, anyone who has a minor accident in Cobourg will be required to report it within 24 hours to a new Collision Reporting Centre set up at the Cobourg Police Station.  Special Constables will man the centre, take photos of the damage, apply the “Damage Reported to Police” sticker, assist with contacting family and/or insurance company and assist with completing a report.  Vehicles will be required to park on the East side of Hibernia next to the police station (see photo below).  Cobourg Police see this as a way to improve efficiency since police will now only “investigate collisions at the scene that involve injuries, suspected criminal activities, severe damage (vehicle is not drivable or requires a tow… Read complete articleCobourg will have a Collision Reporting Centre