By Cecilia Nasmith/Today’s Northumberland
Because criminals don’t slow down, Northumberland-Peterborough South MPP David Piccini said Wednesday, communities must invest in the technology that will address this ever-growing challenge,
Piccini made his remarks at the opening of Pitch To The Chief 2024 in announcing a $150,000 investment from the Rural Economic Development fund to ensure local communities benefit from that technology.
Pitch to the Chief is an annual competition launched in February 2020. This year a panel of three police chiefs (including Cobourg’s Paul VandeGraaf) heard Dragon’s Den-style pitches from six tech entrepreneurs offering their innovative ideas in crime-fighting and -prevention technology (the finalists from the original field of 20).
Competition co-founder Wendy Curtis, Chief Executive Officer of Nventure, noted that there’s a commercial side. Police forces nationwide have more than 100,000 employees and represent an $18-billion market. Their needs are growing as the nature of law enforcement evolves, and – along with the recognition and prize package – access to this market is awaiting the competition’s winner.
“We wait for police to tell us whatever challenges they are facing, then we work with entrepreneurs and researchers to help them address those challenges,” Curtis said.
“Building a safer community is a key priority of the government of Ontario,” said Piccini – who is also Minister of Labour, Immigration, Training and Skills Development.
“We value the role our first responders play in our community and exceptionally value the tough job it is today to be a police officer.
“The RED program, since 2019, has spent more than $27-million to fund 473 projects to help attract investment, create jobs and boost economic opportunity in rural Ontario.”
Through these investments, he said, RED is creating a productive work force through investing in skills development as well as tools and technology.”
The $150,000 announced is “for program expansion to the Venture 13 Police Tech Accelerator, through such things as the Pitch To The Chief competition, tech enhancements and business development, meetings and workshops, community consultation events and advertising to promote accelerator initiatives.
This funding leverages an additional $225,000 in investment form the Cobourg Police Service and Nventure to broaden services and activities with the view of more holistic accelerator technologies for real-world scenarios.
“Innovation in rural Ontario can transform communities by harnessing local resources and talent to create innovative and creative solutions for everybody across the province and this country,” Chief Paul VandeGraaf said.
“It’s a powerful example of resilience and ingenuity for others to emulate.”
VandeGraaf cited examples of previous initiative made possible through the government’s support, like the CCTV network, the M-HEART mental-health work, the Cornerstone Family Violence Prevention Centre intimate partner abuse strategy, and their work with Rebound Child and Youth Services.
This support “has helped us step up and address the intersecting social challenges that we all face in our community.”
