The Guelph Police Service will be increasing its presence in Downtown Guelph with the intent being that there is a uniformed officer on the downtown streets 24/7.
The initiative, which begins April 1, will see a uniformed officer specifically scheduled to work the downtown core around the clock. That’s in addition to current full-time downtown liaison officer Const. Mark O’Connell.
The officers are intended to greatly increase police visibility and engagement in the downtown community.
Guelph Police operates four separate platoons and one officer from each platoon will be dedicated to the downtown, said Grant.
“It’s a six month pilot project and at the end of six months it will be analyzed,” said Guelph Police media officer Const. Kyle Grant.
“It’s something we’ve been looking at for a long time. We want to make it so our downtown is safe and our citizens feel safe in our downtown.”
Grant said the move is not in reaction to the two killings that have happened in downtown this year. On Jan. 15 security guard Mario Ruffolo was killed at the train station and on Feb. 28 Nick Tanti died following an altercation on Macdonell Street.
“There have been recent events, but all I can say is that this has been in the works for a while and it’s been something that’s been discussed for a long time. Just sometimes these things take time to figure out the logistics and get them into place.”
The pilot project will be reviewed after six months and a decision made on whether to make it permanent, end it or modify it at that time.
“At the end of the six months we’re going to take a look at the data and the metrics over the trial period and then decide how we’re going to proceed at that point,” Grant said. “There’s a whole bunch of possibilities about how we can proceed after this trial period, but it’s going to be driven by data and metrics.”
In a news release, Guelph Police said: “This initiative is in alignment with our current Strategic Plan “Moving Forward Together” which was developed in consultation with our Community and our Partner Agencies. Working together with the residents, business owners and visitors to our downtown, the goal of this initiative is to develop an effective and long term strategy to ensure our downtown remains a safe, vibrant and thriving part of our community.”
Mayor Cam Guthrie issued a statement applauding the move.
"As civil servants, both Chief Cobey and I feel a responsibility to be accountable to Guelph’s taxpayers, and that responsibility is a critical component of today’s announcement. I am thankful that Chief Cobey is initiating this six-month pilot to gather data and feedback so that a thorough review can be done to evaluate whether the current compliment of officers is sufficient, or if adjustments will be needed going forward," Guthrie said on the city's web site.
