COBOURG (September 17, 2024) — At this morning’s Cobourg Police Service Board meeting, the Board accepted a presentation from Chief of Police Paul VandeGraaf on the topic of the Northumberland Police Services Review Report Summary prepared by StrategyCorp for Northumberland County Council.
After Chief VandeGraaf’s presentation, the CPSB passed the following two motions:
Motion:
Whereas the Cobourg Police Service Board has received a copy of the Northumberland Policing Study completed by StrategyCorp,
And further that the Board has received information from the Chief of Police that identified exaggerations, misinformation and incomplete assumptions,
Be it resolved that the Cobourg Police Service Board ask Mayor Cleveland to seek answers to those concerns and ask that lower tier municipalities’ responsibilities, such as policing, are not politicized by furthering any action with this report.
Motion:
BE IT RESOLVED that the Cobourg Police Service Board request that Chief VandeGraaf appear before Northumberland County Council as a delegation at the meeting of September 18, 2024, to speak in response to the StrategyCorp presentation. FURTHER, should this request for a delegation be denied, that Chief VandeGraaf’s comments be sent as correspondence to Northumberland County Council with the Board’s full support.
“The CPSB did not participate in the study led by StrategyCorp. In the Spring of 2024, the Town of Cobourg Council passed a motion that there would be no fundamental change in policing direction for the current council’s term,” said Chair Ron Kerr, Cobourg Police Service Board. “How is the County Council supposed to ensure that policing in Northumberland County is poised for success when they are missing critical pieces in a report that is supposed to review the current policing models? Further, policing is the responsibility of the lower tier municipalities, not the County. We hope that Northumberland County Council members will review this report critically and unbiasedly.”
A live stream of the Cobourg Police Service Board meeting, including Chief VandeGraaf’s presentation, is available on the Escribe Cobourg website at cobourg.escribemeetings.com/.