Whether it’s badge ceremonies for new recruits in the parking garage or shift briefings for officers being done electronically, the novel coronavirus has created some changes at Guelph police headquarters.
But despite the challenges facing police officers, Chief Gord Cobey says the response from his members in the last six to eight weeks has been exceptional.
“You have heard me say many times how proud the community should be of our folks and the last two months serve to demonstrate that each and every day,” Cobey said in a phone interview on Wednesday.
Cobey said there have been 9,000 calls for service since March 17, ranging from the most routine matters to some of the most serious.
While he has been impressed with his own police officers, Cobey expressed his appreciation to the community and how it has come together.
“Whether it be our EMS, firefighters, Guelph General Hospital, everybody at the City of Guelph and so many others — grocery stores, pharmacies, food producers, food processors — it’s really been a demonstration of how interconnected we are and how lucky we are to live here,” Cobey said.
2020 was expected to be a big year for the service with a hiring blitz, the competition of its police headquarters renovation and the rollout of its downtown policing initiative.
While slightly adjusted given the circumstances, those all appear to be moving forward, according to Cobey.
For example, the hiring process has been interesting.
“There have been some nuances to it where we’ve had to look at video or phone conversations with people,” Cobey said.
“But we continue to be on pace to fill the vast majority, if not all, of the positions that came out of last year’s budget process.”
The service even held a badge ceremony for six new officers in its parking garage on April 22 in an effort to promote physical distancing. Cobey said it was a first for him in his career.
Meanwhile, the renovation of the police headquarters has been deemed essential and is continuing, which is especially good news given the delays it has faced regardless of the pandemic.
The $34.1 million project had an original completion date of spring 2019. A clearer picture of how the budget has been impacted and when it might be completed is expected later this month from a police board report.
The downtown policing initiative began on April 1 as scheduled, despite many closed businesses in the core.
Sgt. Dustan Howe is heading up the new program that sees four additional officers on foot patrol in the downtown and he says the rollout was a bit different than anticipated.
“Not necessarily in a bad way. We’ve been able to deploy down there and learn things at a little bit slower pace rather than being thrown right into the fire with any potential issues that are going on downtown,” he said.
The officers have each put in about 40 hours on foot in the first four weeks and together have made over 40 arrests, according to Howe.
He said there have also been several positive interactions and proactive visits to businesses and organizations that are still open, such as the Drop-In Centre and the temporary shelter for people experiencing homelessness even though it’s outside of the downtown core.
Howe said some other notable incidents have seen the resources officers administer life-saving measures to a woman in the first week of May and a similar situation unfolded on Wednesday morning, when a resource officer provided first aid to a woman.
“It’s encouraging to see them not only taking an enforcement role, but also a taking a role of helping the community and being involved that way, as well,” he said.
It’s unclear how the pandemic will change the scope of the pilot project, but Howe said it’s something the service will take into consideration as it rolls out.
Cobey also reported that no one in the service has tested positive for the novel coronavirus, which he says is a result of some changes they have made and is a testament to all the hard work everyone is doing.
Briefings at the start of every shift are now done electronically or in the parking garage so the officers can spread out, most leadership meetings are now done virtually and police headquarters is seeing enhanced cleaning.
Officers have also been provided personal protective equipment, such as masks, gloves and glasses.
Cobey said overall the response has been amazing so far.
“Just how unbelievably proud this community can be both of our members and all the other first responders,” he said.
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