(Today’s Northumberland file photo)
By Cecilia Nasmith/Today’s Northumberland
For his last annual report to council before his imminent retirement, Cobourg Police Chief Paul VandeGraaf had a lot of positive news to deliver.
Looking back at 2025, he said at the Wednesday meeting, “we demonstrated measurable progress, adaptability and a clear commitment to evolving how we deliver policing services at an amazing level in Cobourg.”
In 2025, they dealt with 18,522 occurrences – up from 18,197 in 2024 (a year in which this number rose 32% from 2023).
“It’s not just the volume of calls, but their complexity, the time to resolve them safely and appropriately,” he noted.
There were 13 use-of-force reports involving 38 applications of force, but this represents “less than one per cent of one per cent of all calls received.”
The year saw 18 complaints received from the public, representing less than one per cent of all calls received. Of those 18, 12 were screened out as needing no further action by the Law Enforcement Complaint Agency.
Individual crime stats are up, but VandeGraaf said that is at least in part because they try to create an atmosphere where people feel free to report these crimes. In some cases, the increases are steep.
There were nine robberies, up from two in 2024 – eight of these were solved.
Sexual assaults were up to 36 from 12 in 2024 – 29 of these were solved.
As well, weapons violations grew to 42 from seven (in 2024), theft under $5,000 incidents grew to 466 (from 341), drug offences grew to 121 (from 48), and criminal harassment cases grew to 50 (from 34), for example.
The Safer Streets Cobourg initiative launched in June to enhance safety in parks, public spaces and high-impact areas. Key tools to make this happen include the Trespass Authority Agent program, warrant and bail enforcement, community camera registry and cruiser patrols.
And VandeGraaf has always been enthusiastic about the Warrant Apprehension and Bail Compliance initiative.
“As chief, I have made bail compliance a thing that matter provincially,” he said.
“We have no issue with people being granted bail and/or receiving probation or parole. We support people following an agreed set of rules – if you agree to the conditions, abide by the conditions.”
In 2025, 276 warrant arrests were executed, “including a significant number on behalf of other police services. To those other police chiefs – I’m sorry, but we brought your people home.”
It’s unknow if the warrants included the one where seven people had their charges dropped following a search warrant on July 3, 2025 where where seven people were charged and police stated it was a $40,000 drug seizure. The charged were later withdrawn as the Crown stated, “the certificates of analysts on the drugs coming back as sodium bicarbonate, naproxen or its salts, clonazepam and a couple (small amount) cocaine – no fentanyl.”
VandeGraaf is proud of the 353 engagement opportunities to interact with the community – the Cram-A-Cruiser days, Polar Plunge, Special Olympics fundraisers, Shop With A Cop at Christmas, youth golf and soccer camps in partnership with Northumberland YMCA.
“Most of those initiatives are officers volunteering their time,” he said.
Crime-prevention initiatives included presentations, foot patrols, property checks, Crime Prevention Through Environmental Design audits, Neighbourhood Watch and Post-Incident Neighbourhood Engagement (post-event efforts to restore faith and calmness in a neighbourhood). These account for nine volunteers giving 5,779 hours of their time.
The service also handled 357 mental-health calls, 739 wellness checks, 1,160 Mental Health Engagement and Response Team calls for service and 10 completed 30-day Canadian Centre For Addiction programming.
“That’s 10 individuals who chose a better tomorrow for themselves,” the chief said.
Road safety programming included selective enforcement blitzes and pop-up RIDE programs, resulting in 1,775 infraction, four stunt-driving incidents, 17 distracted-driving incidents and a staggering 70 impaired – up from 49 in 2024.
Seizures included street drugs worth an estimated value of $600,450, up from $331,440 in 2024. They also include 14 firearms, $194,000 in other crime-related properties such as vehicles, cash and valuables.
It’s “incredibly intensive work,” VandeGraaf said. He is hopeful for a new initiative called Project Deter, “aimed at dealing with organized crime off the 401,” in such areas as retail theft, drug trafficking and mobile criminal networks.
Technology is making itself known, one significant example being the drone that is better known as the Remotely Piloted Aircraft System.
All of this for a $12,064,277 budget, of which only 65% came from the tax levy. And they have covered their own capital expenses themselves since 2012, mostly from their business services revenue, accounting for $9.5-million in capital expenditures.
The total impact on the tax bill was 5.5%.
