Cobourg has its own Police force with dispatching sub-contracted to Owen Sound Police. The Chief is Paul VandeGraaf and he is strong on preventative policing and transparency. They are active on Social Media and have a good web site with frequent media releases. They are governed by a Board with representatives from Town Council – currently Deputy Mayor Nicole Beatty and Adam Bureau. Board chair is Ronald Kerr. Their Police Station is at 107 King Street West but they have a subsidiary which provides "Business Services" on the second floor of the Venture 13 building on D'Arcy Street opposite the Cobourg Community Centre. They are currently investigating whether they need new premises. The "Business Services" primarily consist of doing Police record checks for other Canadian Police services. Below is some key information.
Their emergency number is 9 - 1 - 1 but their non-emergency phone number is (905) 372-6821.
Their general email address is:
Police Web site and Social Media
Police Board
The Board governs the Police and consists of five members, two appointed by the Province of Ontario and three chosen by Cobourg Council. For 2024, the board consists of:
- Ronald Kerr - Chair appointed by the Executive Council of Ontario (Provincial Cabinet) - his term on the board is 31-Jan-2022 to 30-Jan-2025
- Town of Cobourg Councillor Adam Bureau - Vice-Chair - appointed by Cobourg Council - Contact:
This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. Cell: 905 207-3370 - Dean Pepper - appointed by the Cobourg Council
- Sean Graham - Board Member - appointed by the Executive Council of Ontario - his term on the board is 07-Mar-2022 to 06-Mar-2025
- Town of Cobourg Deputy Mayor Nicole Beatty - appointed by Cobourg Council - contact:
This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. Cell: 905 269-5637
The Board ensures the delivery of adequate and effective policing by appointing members to the service, working with the Chief to identify objectives and priorities and creating policies for service members to follow. The Board may give orders or direction, but only to the Chief and not to any other member of the service.
The Police in Ontario are governed by the Community Safety and Policing Act.
Reports on Police Activities and Monthly Meeting
Each month, at the Police Board meeting, a detailed report of police activities in the previous month is provided. These are informative and interesting to read. You can find them at escribe - go to this page then open the HTML Agenda and look for the CPS Monthly operational report. Highly recommended.
Police Board Meetings are now held in the Council Chambers in Victoria Hall. As well as being open to the public, they are now also streamed online so more available to the public.
There is also a page on the Police web site for a "Crime Plot". This shows on a map, many (but not all) of the recent Police activities.