The Guelph Police Services Board are back from their own summer vacation and are getting down to business. This one will be stocked with special guests (well, two anyway) to talk about some specific projects involving police, and then we will dig into fiscal matters and the usual update from the chief. For details about all that, and the rest of the agenda, check out the preview below…
NOTE: This meeting takes place virtually at 2:30 pm but it will be broadcast on Guelph Police’s YouTube page.
PRESENTATIONS:
1) Sarah Bowers-Peter, the program co-ordinator for Crime Stoppers Guelph Wellington, will present the group’s annual report.
2) Melissa Kwiatkowski, the chief executive information officer of Guelph Community Health Centre will talk about a potential partnership with the Guelph Police Service.
3) Board chair Peter McSherry will present a report from the 2025 Canadian Association of Police Governance AGM and Conference.
Human Resources: Member Appointments – There are eight new hires to report, evenly split between new civilian positions and new cadets in training.
Guelph Police Service Promotions – Two promotions just went into effect in the last month, Staff Sergeant Christopher Probst and Sergeant Scott Biser.
2024 Final Financial Variance Report – This one might be old news if you thoroughly reviewed the audited financial statements presented to council in June, but the audit confirmed that the Service had a positive variance of 0.4 per cent for the operating budget in 2024.
Professional Standards Report on Second Quarter – In the second quarter of 2025, there were three notifications about the Special Investigations Unit invoking their mandate, but only one of those matters is still ongoing. There were also 15 new complaints filed through the Law Enforcement Complaints Agency, and five of those were referred to Professional Standards with only one still ongoing. Three of the four internal investigations that were carried on into the quarter were concluded, and there were zero new requests made to the LECA to review a complaint investigated by Professional Standards.
Community Account Report: January 1 to July 31, 2025 – The Community Account dispenses funds to support various local initiatives like the Special Olympics and the Make a Wish Foundation at the discretion of the board, and is funded through property and money seized by the police in the course of investigation. Since the start of the year, the account has deposited more than $37,000 and disbursed a little over $24,000.
Board Correspondence Report – Between July and September there were six incoming pieces of mail and one outgoing. Among the usual platitudes are letters about the coming budget deliberations, one outlining the timeline for local boards in their separate budget confirmation, and another from board member Mayor Cam Guthrie requesting fiscal prudence to mitigate any massive increase.
June 2025 Financial Variance Report – About halfway through the year, it’s almost all green lights in terms of the funding envelope for 2025 so far. The one cause for concern, obviously, is overtime, but there is some good news there because that budget line is presently at 54.4 per cent for the year, which represents a decrease of about 2,731 hours when compared to last year at this time. The report notes that the Service is presently looking at a budget that comes out even at the end of the year, no variance either positive or negative, but the full impacts of overtime and WSIB claims are still unknown, and so are the impacts of the American tariffs.
Chief’s Monthly Update – As usual, Guelph Police Services Chief Gord Cobey will deliver a verbal report about the latest goings on at 15 Wyndham Street South.
Guelph Politico 