The Cobourg Police Service has added a new utility terrain vehicle (UTV) to its fleet thanks to a grant from the Firehouse Subs Public Safety Foundation of Canada.
On Thursday, the foundation provided the service with $25,677 to purchase the Can-Am Defender UTV.
Police say the UTV will allow the service quicker response to missing persons and provide life-saving equipment, in particular at Victoria Beach where on average six to seven missing children calls are reported at the beach each weekend between May to September.
“Using the UTV side-by-side will help families find police quickly to facilitate rapid missing person response and coverage of larger areas in a search scenario,” police stated.
As well, the UTV will be used for patrols to help deter crimes such as vehicle and property theft and public disturbance. The vehicle can also provide better access to an emergency if travel over rougher terrain or off-road is required, in particular for calls related to individuals in physical or mental distress.
“For instance, CPS responds to an average of six suicide calls annually on or around the train tracks,” police said. “In most cases, officers must walk on foot, carrying potential life-saving equipment, in steep terrain to attend to the calls, wasting valuable time.”
Police chief Paul VandeGraaf says the service is grateful to the foundation for the grant. On hand for the announcement was the Firehouse Sub Cobourg management team of Pritvanti Patel, Aadipkumar Pandya, Rohan Tank, Anjali Prajapati, Badal Patel, and Meet Patel.
“We are grateful to Firehouse Subs Public Safety Foundation of Canada and our local Firehouse Subs in the Town of Cobourg for providing us with this grant and positively impacting our community,” said VandeGraaf. “This grant provides our members with another tool to help keep the citizens of Cobourg safe. We look forward to deploying it in Cobourg, at the parks, beach, and trails.”
Since 2015, the Firehouse Subs Public Safety Foundation of Canada has awarded 306 grants to public safety organizations. The Cobourg grant is one of 22 awarded to public safety organizations during the most recent grant cycle, totalling $518,000 in lifesaving equipment across Ontario.
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