The History of the Guelph Police Service

"fingerprints through time..."

"Fingerprints through time", the brainchild of Guelph Police Sergeant Douglas Pflug, is a coffee table style book outlining the history of the Guelph Police Service from its formation in 1827 through to present time. The inspiration for the book came in July of 2008 when Nicole Visschedyk presented her story of "Firsts in Guelph". Upon discovery that the Guelph Police Service was the first to have radios in their police cars, it triggered interest in creating an outlet to highlight other memorable and significant events throughout the history of the Guelph Police Service. It was at this point that the vision was presented to other past and current members of the Service and a history book committee was quickly formed.

The idea was also presented to the Guelph Historical Society who unanimously endorsed the idea and expressed disbelief that something like this had not been done before. It was during this meeting that Guelph City Councilor Leanne Piper became interested in the project, and eventually took on the role of design and layout for the book as well as portions of the writing and editing.

It was decided that the book would be broken into intervals by year as well as contain other sections of interest such as, Uniform, Badges and Hats, Transportation, Equipment and Technology, and in the Community. Each section will contain accurate historical data, referenced from various primary sources, however there will also be fun facts, figures, milestones and Orders of the Chief throughout supplemented with lots of pictures to make for an easy read.

After a presentation prepared by the committee to gain awareness and support for their endeavor, The Guelph Police Service Board unanimously voted to support the book and was generous enough to provide $6000 seed money. This money will be paid back with proceeds from the book and any additional funds will be donated to local charities. The anticipated selling price for the book is $30, dependent on production costs. To date, both Chapters and The Bookshelf Café have committed to selling the book.

Written with an academic, historical and comical side, the book is tentatively scheduled to be launched in September of 2009

If you have questions, please contact Sgt Douglas Pflug at 519-824-1212 ext 253