Ask and you shall receive, it seems.
Guelph's police chief says as of April 1, the service has deployed two more officers focused in Downtown Guelph as part of a new initiative.
"Our downtown, like any downtown, is the heart of our community," chief Gord Cobey told the Guelph Police Services Board Thursday.
"People want to attend, they want to feel safe, and our businesses, our residents and visitors have consistently asked us in recent years to have more proactive engagement, more proactive visibility in our downtown."
He said resources permitting, two additional officers will be downtown each day from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. until Aug. 31.
He said their primary focus will be on "proactive visible engagement with our community."
The goal, Cobey said, is to collect appropriate data in the coming weeks and months to evaluate the results of the initiative, and see how effective it is in enhancing the perception and reality of safety of residents.
"The same day, we had very positive responses from our community," he said. "Members who were indicating how much they noticed and appreciated it."
It'll cost $260,000 to run the initiative, but the chief was quick to point out they're not asking for additional funds.
The money would come out of a police operating reserve fund, which is getting topped up because of a reported 2022 budget surplus.
There is a slight hiccup, as the board needs to put a request in with the city to allocate the funds because it supports police operations.
"Should city council not approve the reserve funding, the initiative will be discontinued," the report states.
However, the same report noted city staff is supportive of utilizing the reserve funding for this purpose.
There was also no argument from the board when Cobey presented the idea.
