The Cobourg Police Services hiring process for Special Constables consists of a formal application submitted to the Cobourg Police Service, a panel interview, successful completion of the Fitness PIN, a background check, and a medical clearance.

Special Constables then complete one weeks’ worth of Niche training. This is where they will become familiar with our reporting system, how to create and search occurrences and reports, how to enter property and trespass notices etc.

Special Constables are also given CPIC (Canadian Police Information Centre) training where they will learn how to search an individual on the Canadian wide system to provide police with information regarding warrants, current charges before the court, and any police precautions such as biological diseases or history of violence.

Before venturing into on the job training, Special Constables will complete various online courses through the Canadian Police Knowledge Network (CPKN). Examples of the courses completed are listed below:

• Characteristics of an Armed Persons
• Workplace Harassment and Violence – Bill 168
• Excited Delirium Syndrome
• Epilepsy and Seizure Response Training for Police Officers
• Police Ethics and Accountability
• Recognition of Emotionally Disturbed Persons
• Homelessness Awareness
• Note Taking
• Occupational Health and Safety: Frontline Officer
• Personal Protection Strategy for Infection Prevention and Control
• Preventing Officer-involved Collisions
• Report Writing
• Spit Hood Familiarization
• Suicide Awareness Prevention
• Workplace Hazardous Materials Information System
• Introduction to the Cannabis Legislation
• Basic Impaired Driving Detection Techniques
• SFST Review and Introduction to Drug Impaired Driving

Collision reporting training is also given to Special Constables. This training explains what information is needed for fail to remain motor vehicle collisions and collisions that do not result in injury or charges.

Additional training includes First Aid/CPR, Bylaw, CPTED (Crime Prevention through Environmental Design) and three months of on the job training shadowing a coach officer.

During the three months of on the job training, the Special Constable will be paired with a coach officer and work whenever the coach officer works. The Special Constable will be trained and signed off on all of the roles and responsibilities listed below before working on their own.

• Answering / directing phone calls received while working on the front counter
• Assisting members of the public in filling in the forms for criminal records checks and freedom of information requests, verifying the identities of applicants, collecting the appropriate fees, issuing receipts and the turning over of completed applications to recipients, as required
• Conducting civilian fingerprinting
• Conducting criminal fingerprinting
• Creating reports of mischief, theft, fraud, found/lost property, motor vehicle collisions –as long as there are no suspects / surveillance
• Motor Vehicle Collision reporting center as long as are no personal injuries / no charges laid
• Greet and assist visitors by signing them in to the visitor log and assigning them the appropriate visitor tag; checking identification and authorization; monitoring and controlling access to the secure areas of the station via the secure entrances off of the front lobby, as required.
• Provide officers on the road with fingerprint and court dates when required and filling in the appropriate schedule.
• Return and/or receive property of a non-evidentiary nature to and from members of the public.
• Serve summons and subpoenas for upcoming court dates
• Cell Monitoring – conducting 15 minute physical check of prisoners, providing meals if held overnight for bail court, then transporting the prisoner to court
• Foot Patrols – mostly of the downtown core in areas that need more of a police presence due to recent criminal activity.
• Booking in overnight guests that are using the cooling / warming center
  Property

Two of our Special Constables have been designated as property custodians in addition to their regular duties. These Special Constables are in charge of the following tasks:

• Collection and sampling of seized drugs and sending them to Health Canada for analysis – the receiving and updating Niche with the certificate of analysis
• Intake of all police property (found, evidence etc.)
• Lodging of fire arms for safe keeping or disposal
• Lodging of found property (held for a minimum of three months)
• Lodging of police evidence until court case is complete
• Managing the safekeeping of officer notebooks.

Once staffed by civilian members, Court Services at the Cobourg Police Service is now run by two to three Special Constables at a time. Special Constables are responsible for an assortment of duties as listed below:

• Notifying Owen Sound to Update CPIC – releases, charges, bails, conditions, probations, prohibitions
• Creating informations, bail briefs, warrants, summons, subpoenas, notice of motions, 810 peace bonds
• Updating next court dates on our Niche System so that officers can search next court dates and match up dates for new offences
• Swearing informations before the Justice of the Peace on behalf of the officers
• Creating workflows
• Assembling dockets
• Receiving /uploading /submitting Provincial Offences Notices
• Organizing and uploading briefs (entering all documents onto Niche and CPIC, making copies of briefs for disclosure, copying surveillance and witness statements, redacting officer notes, inquiring about / submitting disclosure requests to the Crown Attorney’s office)
• Creating Probation and Parole Briefs (creating the occurrence, starting a workflow, creating a scope case file for submission, adding charges, scanning documents to the occurrence, filing the warrant, notifying officers, updating CPIC)
• Filing Probations orders and updating CPIC/Niche (Reporting orders, non-reporting orders, fire arm prohibition, 810 peace bonds, driving prohibitions)
• Creating Trial Notifications (updating the officers OSL, tasking the officer, creating and serving summons/subpoenas)
• Receiving surety check information from the courthouse and providing the Special Constable with any convictions
• Creating Fail to Attend Court / Identification Warrants (creating the occurrence, entering charges, retrieving previous release documents, creating a workflow, creating a scope case file for submission, creating a synopsis, redacting officer notes, creating a warrant, creating the information, notifying CPIC, emailing officers of new warrant.
• Creating a judge’s order (call detention center for next court date, create the judge’s order, get the order commissioned, get the order signed by a judge, fax the judge’s order to detention center, notify staff for transportation)
  Special Constable Duties – at the Ontario Court of Justice
  One of the primary roles for our Special Constables is working at the Ontario Court of Justice and providing security throughout the building. Below is a list of duties that our Special Constables conduct on a daily basis while maintaining the security of the courthouse.
• Maintain the security of all courts and for all public areas within court building
• Maintain related administrative paperwork as required (remands, warrants for committal, DNA sampling, dockets
• Frisk search of prisoners upon arrival, handcuffing and shackling before moving to cell
• Transport prisoners to and from lock-up facilities and elsewhere in the Province of Ontario as required by the judicial process.
• Take court ordered DNA samples/endorsements and all associated documentation pursuant to the DNA Identification Act (Bill S-10) and completing all required internal documentation for tracking and submission to the National DNA Data Bank (NDDB).
• Safely moving prisoners to their corresponding courtrooms, lawyers room, and cell.
• Conducting a physical check of prisoners every 15 minutes
• Searching the cells and cell block before and after prisoner arrival.
• Responding to medical concerns and notifying the appropriate agencies
• Control of all documentation (remands, holds, DNA, warrant of committal)
• Responding to duress alarms in courts and chambers
• Executing warrants that are outstanding on prisoners in custody that have been brought by way of judges order
• Releasing prisoners once release documents are signed within the courtroom and agencies are canvassed that there are no holds on the prisoner
• Completing the Prisoner Information sheet upon booking prisoner in
• Listing the prisoners on the Control Room white board and when a HOLD exists put a HOLD clearly by that person’s name
• Informing the Team Leader assigned to the Courthouse of all prisoners in attendance as well as any special handling instructions or HOLDs, immediately after prisoners are booked and placed in cells
• Providing a list of prisoners to Court #3 Docket person

• Ensure that all personal property, such as belts, ties, shoelaces or any article with which a prisoner could harm himself/herself, is removed and stored securely prior to the prisoner being placed in a cell, property is to be bagged, sealed and categorized on the outside of the bag
• Assess security risks and provide appropriate security measures; controlling and handcuffing prisoners who become violent
• Ensure that prisoners detained in custody for extended periods of time are provided meals in accordance with policy and procedure of the Cobourg Police Service
• Search and secure prisoners prior to transport and supervising them prior to and during court appearances

• Transporting and attending W.A.S.H. Court (Weekend And Statutory Holiday Court)
• Prisoner escorts to other detention centers (Ontario Shores, McKinnon House, CECC)
• Prisoner guarding at Northumberland Hills Hospital

The Town of Cobourg and the Cobourg Police Service make community engagement a priority and work together to ensure that our community has events to keep the whole family entertained and involved within their neighborhood. Our Special Constables enjoy keeping busy by attending local events and providing security above and beyond their regular work week and getting to meet the people within our community. Below is a list of yearly events that our Special Constable attend:

• Highland Games
• Food and Music Festival
• Canada Day Parade
• Ruck March
• KIDS Golf Camp
• Country Wild Music Festival
• Lemonade Stands
• Big Rigs
• Touch a Truck
• Escorts to and from Camp
• Rib Festival
• Sandcastle Festival
• Sidewalk Sale
• Community Living Baseball Game
• Highway of Heroes
• Bike Rodeos
• CAPES Program
• Stand Up Stay Strong
• Pub Crawls
• Remembrance Day Parade
• Harvest Festival
• Trick or Treat / Haunted House
• Crime Prevention Week
• Paid Duties
• Kilometers for Kids
• Christmas Magic
• Cram-a-Cruiser
• Traffic Enforcement / Ride Programs
• Boat Launch / Removal

The Cobourg Police Service now has four trained Special Constables as Scenes of Crime Officers (SOCO). Our Special Constables attend the Ontario Police College or Durham Regional Police to complete two weeks of Scenes of Crime certified training before shadowing our FIS officer.

S.O.C.O. is responsible for the forensic investigation of the following types of incidents:

• The examination of vehicles that are not associated to a major incident;
• Photographing assault victims where the injuries are not life threatening and no other type of examination is required (i.e. collection of biological samples, fibers or bite marks); and
• Minor theft, Mischief, Recovered Property and MVC complaints.

Subject to the availability of a Forensic Identification Officer, S.O.C.O. may also attend the following:

• Break and Enters that do not require extensive or complex investigation (i.e. trace evidence or extensive biological sample collection). Scenes which require basic fingerprint examination, photography and the collection of minor DNA samples (blood drops, etc.) are suitable for S.O.C.O. investigation; and
• Robberies (resulting in no injuries and not involving the discharge of a firearm).
Forensic Identification Specialist
The Cobourg Police Service has recently promoted one Special Constable to the position of a Forensic Identification Specialist.
Training for an FIS Officer position consists of the following:
• Standard Special Constable training
• 2 weeks SOCO course (OPC certified)
• A minimum of 12 months experience as a SOCO and recommended 6 – 12 months mentorship within an FIS department prior to being accepted on the Forensic Identification Course.
• 8-9 week Forensic Identification course (OPC / CPC certified) – qualification dependant on successfully completing all assigned coursework, and passing 3 final exams including practical, written and fingerprint comparison involving 100 identifications with a pass mark of 100%. (No re sits allowed).
• Re qualification exam every 3 years with ongoing training a necessity (recommended 2 specialist / related courses annually)
Duties of an FIS Officer consist of the following:
• Attend, examine, record all major crime scenes including homicides, sexual assaults, shootings, robberies, arsons and trace evidence on scene
• Attend, examine, and record all major crime scenes for sudden deaths where a Post Mortem is ordered and all life threatening MVCs and Industrial accidents.
• Process evidence from FIS & SOCO scenes including at partnering Service (Peterborough) lab, and complete submissions to Centre of Forensic Science.
• Examine & compare all fingerprint lifts / photos from FIS & SOCO, using AFIS where appropriate.
• Qualified to state positive identification / elimination from sufficient fingerprints, required to provide expert testimony in court proceedings where identification via fingerprints is an issue.