The latest Police Services Board Meeting was held at City Hall on Wednesday afternoon chaired by Mayor Ron Gervais.
OPP Officers presented statistics gathered between July and September of this year in multiple categories which covered everything from violent crime incidents to routine traffic stops by OPP.
With a couple of notable exceptions, generally speaking there were very few surprises contained in the data which actually showed a slight decrease of 1.1% in the number of over all Criminal Code charges laid with 539 compared to 545 over the same period in 2024.
Conversely there was a 333% increase in speeding infractions while the other three of the “Top Four” road related infractions (seatbelts, distraction and impaired) remained relatively stable. While there was no clear indication as to how or why the increase occurred the message was clear: Slow down.
Another statistic of note was the total number of “Mental Health Act Occurrences” that were logged which totaled 137 during the July to September time period. Twenty six of these calls related to incidences of attempt or threat of suicide, a number for which officers were unable to speak to as each call appeared to be resolved by means outside the purview of law enforcement.
At the recent Community Watch Meeting earlier this month residents expressed deep concern at the question as to whether the OPP are present in numbers sufficient to effectively handle the recent spate of drug and homelessness related incidents that have plagued the city of late. In response Mayor Gervais announced that a grant applied for by The City for monies earmarked towards hiring more full time officers has taken a critical step forward and the hiring of three or four more officers is imminent, says Gervais. A concrete time line was not offered but it appears that the broad strokes of the process are completed and an exact date will be released as soon as it is available.
Overall, the message is that while it appears that certain neighborhoods are experiencing a greater than usual number of crime related incidents, overall, the numbers suggest that it appears to be “business as usual” in the City of Pembroke as of this date.
The next Police Services board meeting is tentatively scheduled for February of 2026.
(Written By: Richard Evans)