Editorial – Yesterday’s incident just outside Rebound Child and Youth Services Northumberland on D’Arcy Street was an incident that could be used as training for police officers.
Not because of mistakes – actually it was exactly the opposite.
The investigation is ongoing, but from what one witness told Today’s Northumberland an altercation ensued after a man (suspect) was exiting the building and swearing while a father was entering the building to pick up his child. The father stated children are in the area and asked the suspect to curb his language. The suspect went to a car that was waiting for him and grabbed a hammer, possibly a rubber mallet and came towards the man. The man stepped just inside the door of Rebound and allegedly the suspect with the hammer/mallet struck the glass door, shattering it.
It was around 4 p.m. and you could hear the sirens of police cruisers around town. Sirens are common in every community, but with the way the sound was travelling you knew police were in a rush to where they were going.
A short time later, people started notifying Today’s Northumberland about three police cruisers outside Rebound Child and Youth Services Northumberland located just south of the Cobourg Community Centre.
Immediately, Today’s Northumberland went to the scene which was still very active.
There was almost three different scenes taking place at this incident. Cobourg police were extremely busy at each one.
The one scene was a person who appeared to have suffered a medical episode in front of Rebound.
St. John Ambulance Instructor Paul Jones took care of the patient until Northumberland County Paramedics arrived. St. John Ambulance also treated others with minor injuries before paramedics arrived.
St. John Ambulance is based in the same building and a number of students were inside their facility being trained by Jones when the incident happened.
Another scene was the suspect who was inside and later came out handcuffed and placed into one of the police vehicles.
The third scene was a woman who was yelling obscenities at officers and was placed in handcuffs and put into a police vehicle.
Because of the broken glass door at the entrance to Rebound, the children were picked up at a side entrance away from what was happening at the front of the facility.
The scene was still very active for approximately 10-minutes or longer after Today’s Northumberland arrived.
Each and every police officer on the scene performed exceptionally well and should be praised for their professionalism.
The officers were calm in the face of profanities being yelled at them by some of the people involved.
There were officers watching over one victim, officers were also inside with the suspect in addition to officers in another area outside trying to calm a woman.
Some may say, isn’t that their job?
And yes, it is, but so many times there are viral videos of questionable conduct by officers across the world.
You won’t see anything questionable with the way police performed their duties at this incident.
The scene certainly wasn’t chaotic, but it was very busy. Yet, each and every officer was focused on the task with each scene being backed up by at least one other officer.
While being hurled with obscenities, they remained calm. It must be extremely difficult in a situation like that. But the officers are obviously trained very well.
Police, like anyone else can have good days and bad ones. They have life beyond the service and other stresses in life beyond the job. But even if they have a “bad” day, they put their life’s frustrations aside, stand and take profanities being hurled at them, calling them names and “pushing their buttons.”
It must be extremely frustrating having to deal with that.
There are still a number of questions to be asked concerning what took place yesterday, including why was the suspect inside the facility with children present, was he in an area where children could have been, and are there any other charges?
When a press release is issued, it gives the basic details of an incident. Information and charges if any happen.
Something most members of the public don’t get to see in a press release is what happens at any scene. The investigation, gaining control, calming the situation whether it be a motor vehicle collision, break-in, domestic incident or something like what happened yesterday.
Several people witnessed the actions of police and the few that we spoke with, had the same praise of officers on scene.
The vast majority of the public never get to see the exceptional way police everywhere perform their duties.
On Thursday, July 18, 2019 around 4 p.m. just off D’Arcy Street in Cobourg a few members of the public and one person from the media got to witness just that – exceptional work by Cobourg’s finest.
Breaking News – “Serious” Incident Outside Rebound Child and Youth Services In Cobourg
Author: Pete Fisher
Has been a photojournalist for over 30-years and have been honoured to win numerous awards for photography and writing over the years. Best selling author for the book Highway of Heroes - True Patriot Love
