Guelph Police unveil new ‘Community Safety Operations Centre’ initiative

A new initiative from Guelph Police will have some calls handled by phone and online reporting, as well as placing CCTV cameras in the downtown area of the city.

The new Community Safety Operations Centre (CSOC) will be manned by officers that will handle the new call management system.

Some of the types of calls that will be handled by phone or online reporting include theft over $5,000, some break and enter incidents, neighbour disputes and driving complaints.

Scott Tracey, the media relations coordinator for the Guelph Police Service, said the CCTV cameras will not be monitored 24/7 and are incident driven. He stressed that Guelph Police respect the public’s privacy and were involved in a “number of meetings” with the Information and Privacy Commissioner of Ontario to ensure any collection of footage is done within the IPC’s guidelines.

“I think it’s important for the public to know that the areas that will be monitored by the cameras are only public spaces,” said Tracey. “The video footage will only be retained by police for 72 hours, and then it is recorded over.”

Guelph Police said in a press release that the cameras may be monitored more during large gatherings, such as St. Patrick’s Day and Homecoming. They said the aim of the centre is to allow frontline officers to focus on priority calls and to reduce waiting times for in-process calls.

19 cameras are set to be installed by the end of March and operational by the spring. Tracey said the plan is for this initiative to be a permanent part of the service.

A public consultation will be held at the police station at 15 Wyndham St. S. Guelph, on March 6 from 6:30-8 p.m. for residents to come out and ask questions about the initiative.