(Today’s Northumberland file photo)
By Cecilia Nasmith/Today’s Northumberland
Auxiliary Inspector Mark Salerno presented a positive picture of progress at the January Cobourg Police Services Board meeting in giving the annual report of the Cobourg Police Services Auxiliary.
Last year saw 5,779 volunteer hours rendered by the force’s 19 members, which is about 25% higher than 2024. Nine of those members were new, and recruitment is going on to replace the five who resigned and the two who retired. And given that the minimum volunteer hours per member is 150, Salerno was pleased to report that each member gave an average of 285 hours.
Of those volunteer hours, 44% of them were dedicated to community-based police efforts, such as 373 hours on patrol (including downtown and at the beach).
A record 15 auxiliary members turned out for Canada Day, in addition to their work at such projects as car-seat clinics, Black Cat speed monitoring deployments and ride-alongs.
Their Cram-a-Cruiser events are recognized by Fare Share Northumberland Food Banks as a key support in their work. This year, their nine events brought in 21,436 lb. of food and $22,081 in donations.
Their November Cram-a-Cruiser collected only toys for the Giving Tree. Deputy Chief Jeff Haskins later elaborated on that one, saying it brought in a record 389 toys.
The first Cram-a-Cruiser for 2026 took place Jan. 18, Haskins said, bringing in 2,264 lb. of food and $3,991 in donations.
New programs for 2025 included PINE (Post-Incident Neighbourhood Event, where they support community members after a major police incident) and reviving Neighbourhood Watch.
They are also highly visible at YMCA youth dances and community parades, and set up crime-prevention tables at Farmers’ Markets over the summer. And on Family Day, they will bring back Tobogganing With A Cop.
“Excellent program,” Board Vice-Chair Sean Graham commented.
As a member of the board for seven years, Graham continued, “I’ve been seeing where we started with the auxiliary program to where we are now – incredible.”
Chair Adam Bureau agreed.
“I think we are one of the luckiest services on Ontario to have such an auxiliary team like we have,” Bureau stated.
