Good morning, sir, and committee members.
Let me give you a bit of background of Cobourg as well as the previous service where I was the police chief for the past four years.
Having spent 22 years policing Ottawa with the Ottawa Police Service, it is always a pleasure to return to the city. For the past four years I was the chief of police for the Gananoque Police Service, a small Ontario town along the St. Lawrence River in the Thousand Islands. In September 2012 I was appointed chief of police for the Cobourg Police Service.
The town of Cobourg is well known for its quality of life, beautiful location along the shore of Lake Ontario, and close proximity to VIA Rail and Highway 401. It's approximately 20 minutes east of Oshawa. For many it has become a place of choice for retirement. In 2006 the census noted the population at 18,000, a 6% increase from 2001. Currently, in the latest census in 2011, Cobourg had a population of 18,519. The median age of the population is 46 years of age, where the Ontario median age is 39.
In Cobourg, our uniform patrol is performed by four platoons composed of five officers on a 12-hour shift rotation and supported by five criminal investigators and a community programs officer. The seniority of the 32 officers ranges from 30 years to recruit level. Civilian support complement is 13 full-time and 17 part-time employees. There are also five casual employees used for cellblock monitors when we have prisoners in our cells.
For us in Ontario the core functions and roles of policing, as mentioned before, are governed by the Ontario Police Services Act, which lists five core functions of policing that must be provided by every municipality, regardless of its size. We must meet a minimum threshold of providing adequate and effective police service in accordance with the needs of the community. The core functions are crime prevention, law enforcement, assistance to victims of crime, public order maintenance, and emergency response. The municipality is also responsible for providing the infrastructure and the administration necessary for providing adequate and effective police service.
The police services board is responsible for governance of the policing model in place in the municipality and shares, along with the municipality, the responsibility for providing adequate and effective policing service to the community. The chief of police answers directly to the board and is responsible for the administration and the day-to-day operations of the police service in such manner that meets the community needs.
As in any municipality, taxes, finance, and available grants have major implications. Cobourg is no different in this respect. The police administration has shown excellent fiscal control by being under the forecasted budget for the previous four years. In 2013 our annual operating budget is $5.6 million. It's a 1.5% increase from 2012, which had a $5.5 million budget.
Recent use of technology has improved operational efficiencies such as the use of in-car communication devices, a special BlackBerry that allows officers to have immediate access to CPIC information. The Cobourg Police Service has also successfully capitalized on generating revenue by providing third-party criminal record checks to help offset the rising cost of policing. In 2012 the revenue generated was just over a half a million dollars.
Further, the service is now actively investigating other opportunities for efficiencies, for example the outsourcing of our communications centre to larger police services.
Thank you.