By Cecilia Nasmith/Northumberland 89.7 FM/Today’s Northumberland
The Cobourg Police Service Auxiliary is an example to others across the province, Superintendent Duncan Walker declared at the Cobourg Police Services Board March meeting.
The reasons why were shared in the body’s annual report by Inspector Mark Salerno.
An auxiliary officer for 11 years (seven of them with the Cobourg force), Salerno is one of a team of 25 from all walks of life (his own career is as chief technology officer in a private equity firm), divided up into four platoons who volunteer with the Cobourg Police Service to give back to the community.
In 2024, they gave a collective 4,777 volunteer hours. About half of them were given in uniform in the community, otherwise undergoing training, attending meetings and helping with administrative duties.
They spent 481 hours in 2024 with the Crime Prevention Through Environmental Design program, performing eight residential and five commercial audits.
They trained technicians for the Car Seat Clinics that they have brought back in 2025.
And their Cram-A-Cruiser event, so they have been told by the folks at the Fare Share Food Bank, is responsible for fully 25% of the food and cash donations they receive. Held monthly (except for December), the events brought in 23,984 lb. of food (up 13% over 2023) and $31,120 in donations (up 12% over 2023).
They support officers in such activities as downtown foot patrols, active-attacker training, Halloween patrols and community events.
Auxiliary members typically undergo at least 16 weeks of training, including extensive radio training and practical scenarios, and there are regular training refreshers.
Superintendent Walker praised the dedication of these officers, saying their impact is felt beyond Cobourg’s borders.
“Our program is known throughout the province,” he stated.
“We have had officers come to us and say, ‘If we were closer, we would be knocking on your door.’”
He recalled attending a Toronto event for 17 different services in November.
“They said that the Cobourg Auxiliary unit does details Toronto would not even consider doing, which I took as a compliment.”
Walker said he has put together a manual about setting up and maintaining an auxiliary unit that he has shared with a number of services throughout Ontario.
“We are happy to share this information with other services and have, in fact, gone and visited other services to provide hands-on experience,” he stated.
