So far, so good, says Guelph's mayor and police chief when it comes to more officers patrolling the downtown core.
The supplemental staffing initiative – launched April 1, running until Aug. 31 and sees officers on proactive patrol 10 a.m. to 6 p.m each day – has resulted in a spike in downtown patrol numbers.
From April 1 to April 30, there were 130 proactive dedicated patrols, an 88.4 per cent increase over the same period last year.
In the first two weeks of May, there were 85 such patrols, a 254 per cent increase from a year ago.
Police chief Gord Cobey said since April 20, there has only been one day where there wasn't an officer interacting with citizens downtown.
"There are many days now where we have two to four people dedicated just in the downtown," he told the police board Thursday. "To provide context – and I think we can never lose sight of this – there are also many many days, the majority of days that we only have 10 units, frontline response vehicles for the rest of the city.
"We have to kind of be mindful of that, with respect to the sustainability of that."
While the stats are one thing, it's another to gauge the response from citizens. And it's been positive, according to the chief.
"In the last several weeks, we've had many many kind calls and emails and observations on how much people just appreciate our members' presence in the downtown," Cobey told the board.
"Based on the information we're getting anecdotally, this initiative has been really well received by our citizens and businesses."
"I have never heard in my life as the mayor, more people and businesses in the downtown more thrilled that they are seeing that proactive response of officers," added mayor Cam Guthrie.
"Anecdotally, what I'm hearing is (a) major major change in atmosphere and appreciation."
Cobey said the force is in the process of developing and launching a survey for residents and businesses to have their say on how the initiative is going.
It costs $260,000 to run the program, and is being funded out of the police operating reserve fund, from the 2022 surplus.
The request for these funds will go to council May 31.
According to an earlier report, if city council doesn't give the green light for police to use part of the surplus for the program, it'll be discontinued.
But the report noted city staff is supportive of utilizing the reserve funding for this program.
