Downtown/Tactical

This Team, consisting of 12 police constables and 2 sergeants, provides community patrol in downtown Guelph on foot and in cruisers. The constables are assigned to two teams and operate under the direction of team leaders. The Team has piloted a number of different strategies to address continuing issues with public intoxication, disturbances and assaults in the downtown core.

Regular meetings are held with community stakeholders including Council members, City staff, the Downtown Board of Management, business members as well as the University of Guelph administration, Central Student Association and Alcohol and Gaming Commission representatives to identify the source of problems and coordinate solutions. In 2005, greater police visibility through increased foot patrol was a targeted strategy, and the Team achieved a 34.5% increase in downtown foot patrol hours compared to the previous year. In 2006, the downtown/tactics unit had 1,351 hours of foot patrol and 2,473 hours of cruiser patrol.

The Team also has city-wide responsibility as the Tactical Response Unit (TRU), providing strategic response to high risk and potentially life threatening situations. These include all incidents involving firearms as well as reports of armed or barricaded persons, and hostage situations. They also assist with high risk arrests, the execution of high risk search warrants and ground searches. The dual mandate of the Downtown/Tactical Team allows the Guelph Police Service to focus on issues in the downtown core and, at the same time, comply with provincial regulations that require police tactical teams to be full-time units.