RECAP: Police Board Endorses Motion to Promote Bail Reform

This month’s Guelph Police Services Board meeting was brief, but still relatively consequential. The board marked the sad news in policing today coming out of Edmonton, added their voice to the call for bail reform, and appointed a committee to secure a new member of the board. In other news, the board may be going back to in-person meetings after the next meeting in April. Here’s the recap… Continue reading “RECAP: Police Board Endorses Motion to Promote Bail Reform”

MEETING PREVIEW: Guelph Police Services Board for March 16, 2023

This month’s Guelph Police Board meeting will have a lot of information for you, which is something that was promised back in that first meeting of the year, but unless someone on the board wants to discuss things further this may be the only way you learn more about it without actually reading the agenda. For the meeting itself though, we will hear from the Chief as usual and the board will talk about endorsing national bail reform. Continue reading “MEETING PREVIEW: Guelph Police Services Board for March 16, 2023”

RECAP: Cobey Promises Lots of Data in Months to Come at Police Board Meeting

It was another short meeting of the Guelph Police Services Board this month, but Police Chief Gord Cobey promised busy times ahead as the service starts completing their annual reports now that 2022 is nearly a month into the rearview mirror. The board will be looking forward to all that information in February and March, but for January we did end up getting a new chair and vice-chair for the board. Continue reading “RECAP: Cobey Promises Lots of Data in Months to Come at Police Board Meeting”

MEETING PREVIEW: Guelph Police Services Board for January 19, 2023

The Guelph Police Services Board will get together this Thursday for the first meeting of 2023; most of the items are pretty straightforward and will be remanded to the consent agenda. In terms of business that’s under points for discussion, we will welcome the new chair and vice-chair, and we will also hear what the police chief has to say about the last 30 days! Continue reading “MEETING PREVIEW: Guelph Police Services Board for January 19, 2023”

Highlights from Police Board Meeting: Homecoming, Hate Crimes and Surplus

It was a relatively brief October meeting for the Guelph Police Services Board, but there were some interesting details revealed in the course of the virtual conference. There was an update about hate crime stats in the city, plus some reporting about police actions during Safe Semester and Homecoming last month. Also, what’s the latest about the police budget for this year, and next? Continue reading “Highlights from Police Board Meeting: Homecoming, Hate Crimes and Surplus”

Police and CMHA Formally Ask for Help to Expand IMPACT Program

The Integrated Mobile Police and Crisis Team (IMPACT) program has been widely considered a success in Guelph when it comes to responding to residents suffering a metal health crisis. Despite its success though, IMPACT is still limited by how many hours in the day it can operate, which is why local stakeholders are reaching out to the Government of Ontario for financial assistance to make IMPACT available 24/7. Continue reading “Police and CMHA Formally Ask for Help to Expand IMPACT Program”

COVID Outbreak Declared for Guelph Police as Local Vaccine Distribution Delayed

We talk a lot about the dangers faced by frontine workers during the pandemic, and Monday we saw that first hand with Wellington-Dufferin-Guelph Public Health declaring an outbreak at the Guelph Police Service. And since it doesn’t rain but it pours, public health itself announced Monday that they will not be rolling out vaccines today as originally planned. Continue reading “COVID Outbreak Declared for Guelph Police as Local Vaccine Distribution Delayed”

RECAP: Cobey Faces Tough Questions on Community Safety at Ward 1 Town Hall

From safety concerns downtown to property theft and damage in the far east end of the city, there were a lot of police issues discussed at Tuesday’s town hall meeting held by Ward 1 Councillors Dan Gibson and Bob Bell. From the impacts of COVID-19, to changes in Guelph’s crime severity index, to calls to “Defund the Police”, Police Chief Gord Cobey fielded a lot of questions, and offered a lot of answers. This is the recap… Continue reading “RECAP: Cobey Faces Tough Questions on Community Safety at Ward 1 Town Hall”

RECAP: Mayor & Ward 4 Councillors Talk Policing & Budget at Town Hall

It’s a known fact that Mayor Cam Guthrie got his start in politics as one of the councillors for Ward 4, and on Thursday night he virtually returned to his stomping groups with current Ward 4 Councillors Mike Salisbury and Christiner Billings. A cast of thousands (sort of) also joined Guthrie, Salisbury and Billings to talk about the 2021 Budget and issues of policing in Guelph in the second in a series of pre-budget virtual town halls. Continue reading “RECAP: Mayor & Ward 4 Councillors Talk Policing & Budget at Town Hall”

RECAP: Ward 5 Town Hall Covers Police and Library Matters

For the second time in the COVID-era, a pair of Guelph City Councillors held a virtual town hall via Zoom. Ward 5 Councillors Leanne Caron and Cathy Downer organized a gathering of around 30 people Thursday night to cover matters of law and order with members of the Guelph Police Service, and matters of the Guelph Public Library with the CEO and Board members. Below is the recap. Continue reading “RECAP: Ward 5 Town Hall Covers Police and Library Matters”