It’s odd covering crime in Cornwall. The Cornwall Police under Chief Danny Aikman are refusing to respond or cooperate with this newspaper about the most basic of questions.
Here is what they released today for the last 24 hours (from 8AM to 8AM)
DOMESTIC BREACH
Cornwall, ON – A 44-year-old Cornwall man was arrested on January 13th, 2020 and charged with breach of undertaking for contacting his ex-girlfriend. It is alleged on January 11th, 2020, the man contacted his ex-girlfriend, despite his conditions, and police were contacted to investigate. On January 13th, 2020, the man attended police headquarters to deal with the matter. He was taken into custody, charged accordingly and held for a bail hearing. His name was not released as it would identify the victim in the matter.
FAIL TO APPEAR FOR PRINTS
Cornwall, ON – Johnny Sawatis, 33, of Cornwall was arrested on January 13th, 2020 for failing to appear for prints. It is alleged the man failed to appear for prints on December 27th, 2019 and an investigation ensued. On January 13th, 2020, the man attended police headquarters to deal with the matter. He was taken into custody, charged accordingly, and released to appear in court on February 11th, 2020.
WARRANT
Cornwall, ON – Garabed Kharmandarian, 56, of Cornwall was arrested on January 13th, 2020 on the strength of a warrant. It is alleged the man failed to attend court on January 9th, 2020 for an assault offence and a warrant was issued for his arrest. On January 13th, 2020, the man attended police headquarters to deal with the matter. He was taken into custody on the strength of the warrant and released to appear in court on February 11th, 2020.
CALLS FOR SERVICE
There were 49 calls for service in the City of Cornwall over the last 24 hours (8:00 am yesterday to 8:00 am today).
For example, there was at least one shop lift call for service, at least one sudden death sadly, at least one mischief call, at least one call for threats, at least one fraud, at least one neighbor dispute, at least seven 911 calls, 2 unwanted person calls, 2 sexual assault calls (none disclosed in the blotter) 2 Motor vehicle collisions, there was a lot going on and of course this is only from the limited information the CPS are willing to share under Chief Aikman.
We media can’t do our jobs if we don’t have information. We can’t support our community and sometimes hold agencies accountable if they refuse basic disclosure.
The CPS and frankly all police services should post a clear list of calls per day so that we media partners can actually ask them questions if necessary.
Sadly though it’s looking like the CPS doesn’t want to partner with media. In fact they are spending resources duplicating services that media provide the public to varying degrees.
This newspaper is the only one in Cornwall that provides all information released by the CPS via their blotter. However they are now hindering our ability to alert the public to what’s going on in Cornwall.
It should also be noted that there are incidents that never get reported by the police or disclosed for varying reasons; some very valid, sadly, other not at all. For example there are allegations that the CPS didn’t disclose a DUI which resulted in an immediate license suspension because of whom the person was that crashed their nice new car and blew over the limit.
This has to end. The taxpayers of Cornwall deserve a transparent police service. We deserve to feel as safe as possible in our homes and city; especially for what we are being gouged tax wise for the CPS.