Welcome to Cobourg, Chief!

Judging by the comments on the “Cobourg News” site it will be a mixed welcome. But as we hear you are going to move to Cobourg, hello to you and your family. As you have probably not been here before you have no preconceived notions of Cobourg life “As it used to be”. You will be living in the present; make yourselves at home.

Now for the observations. Talking to the Chair of the CPS We found out that nineteen people applied for the job, six were interviewed and Chief Superintendent Chris Leather was the successful applicant. A very thorough interview, each lasting more than hour. Described as having the best resume and and a calm demeanour he obviously impressed the hiring committee.

Cobourg may seem placid and home to a preponderance of Seniors but this Community demands both responsiveness and a crime-free situation. That’s where the rub lies. Being a Senior Manager in a National Police Force is so different from a ‘hands-on’ Small Town Police Chief. Will CS Leather be able to adapt? Coming to Cobourg is a no-brainer for him. The last stop on a long career path? a raise in pay to boot. Google tells us that CS Leather was paid between $155K and $170K in the RCMP. He will be starting a tad over that Chief VandeGraaf was paid $220K last year but with ten years service. 

We at the BurdReport have been very critical about the lack of apparent followup on the local drug busts. All of them have been local distributors, small-time crooks. If there has been any surveillance that has led to the next level being caught the public has not heard anything about it. CS Leather in his previous position as being reponsible for “executive leadership for major criminal investigations and federal policing operations relating to organized crime, national security, cybercrime, financial crime, sensitive and international investigations, and border integrity” he should surely know all about the drug trade and its major criminals. The Community is expecting big things and a different approach from the new Chief. Again the BurdReport did find much wrong with the way the old Chief ran things – definitely an improvement over some of the Chiefs we have had in the past. Unfortunately social trends and a sad Provincial approach to the Societal, and universal, problems of the unhoused and the inevitable petty crime that comes with it led to much of the lack of support for Chief VandeGraaf and his methods. And he quite rightly decided “who needs this crap anymore” and left, leaving the problems behind. 

We know that ‘Community Policing’ is a much different beast from Senior Management and his taking the job, appears on the surface to be akin to a Detective Chief Inspector moving to the Traffic Department. Let’s hope that the process of Chief Leather assuming control can impress the ‘hardliners’ and sceptics.