Caledon OPP presents Caledon Community Business Engagement initiative

January 29, 2026 · 0 Comments

By Riley Murphy

Local Journalism Initiative Reporter

Caledon OPP is aiming to create a safer and more informed business community in Caledon.

At the Caledon Chamber of Commerce’s recent Annual General Meeting, Caledon OPP presented their new Caledon Community Business Engagement (CBE) Initiative.

Through the CBE initiative, Caledon OPP hopes to increase trust and confidence between police and businesses, yield better reporting of suspicious activity, have stronger intelligence on extortion and property crime, and create a visible police presence that deters criminal activity.

Caledon OPP shares that local businesses across Caledon have voiced concerns regarding numerous issues such as break and enters, theft, fraud and emerging extortion-related calls and emails linked to organized crime.

At the presentation, Caledon OPP was handing out cards they had recently printed regarding how to spot and respond to extortion, a growing concern in the Town of Caledon.

Many of these issues businesses in Caledon are facing were said to often go underreported due to uncertainty about the reporting processes or concerns about the impact on the business.

Operations Sergeant with the Caledon Detachment, Vijay Rai, says the CBE initiative is working to close those gaps.

He shares the initiative is built around visibility, trust and communication.

Part of the CBE initiative includes high-visibility foot and bicycle patrol officers who will engage directly with business owners and staff, build relationships and open communication, increase awareness of crime prevention strategies, and provide guidance on reporting and police support.

For businesses, Caledon OPP explains this means a “professionally resourced, prevention-driven partnership focused on safer commercial areas and stronger collaboration.”

Objectives of this program will aim to increase police presence in commercial areas, build relationships with business owners and managers, and support broader organized crime prevention and intelligence gathering.

Through this initiative, the OPP will be able to gather feedback on crime trends and safety concerns that arise in the community.

Another aspect of this program is education. The OPP will aim to provide education on break-and-enter prevention, fraud awareness and extortion indicators.

The program will operate using two uniform officers per shift, with 10-hour deployments from 9 a.m. to 7 p.m., running two days per week over 12 weeks
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The deployed officers will focus on commercial plazas, business corridors, and areas experiencing theft, fraud or extortion concerns.

The foot and bicycle patrols are both for approachability and visibility in the community.

At the presentation, it was said these Officers will engage directly with businesses, provide crime prevention advice, discuss extortion indicators and encourage timely reporting.

Rai says officers have already been out in the community for a few weeks, listing and reporting, and conducting spot checks in the commercial areas.

He says this reporting and work is hopefully leading towards increased trust between police and businesses.

It was explained that all of the information collected during the initiative will go towards a master report, allowing the OPP to track business interactions and emerging patterns, identify crime trends and organized crime indicators, and share intelligence with specialized units to support enforcement and prevention.

Caledon OPP says this master report will not only ensure that residents’ concerns are heard, but they will also be analyzed and acted upon.

Support for the initiative comes from the Community Safety and Policing (CSP) Grant-Funded Initiative, which addresses issues such as dedicated officer deployment without impacting frontline service levels, with a focus on crime prevention.

Inspector Kirsten Buligan with the Crime Prevention and Community Support Bureau for the OPP and her team worked with numerous OPP officers, including Operations Sergeant Rai, to help secure grants and funding for the initiative.

Their goal of creating a safer and more informed business community includes their hopes of seeing increased trust and confidence between police and businesses, better reporting of suspicious activity, stronger intelligence on extortion and property crime, and that their visible police presence deters criminal activity.

In this initiative, they’re asking for a partnership from local businesses.

Caledon OPP is asking Caledon businesses to engage with officers during visits, share concerns and trends they are seeing, report suspicious activity early, and provide feedback on how they can improve.

Through their partnership with the Caledon Chamber of Commerce, they’re hoping to reach local businesses and the broader business community to “make Caledon an even safer place to live, work and do business.”

Inspector Natalie Majer with the Caledon OPP says she knows every local community is different, and what they’re experiencing in Caledon is that “a lot is happening.”

“This is step one in a number of steps in order for us to get out more into the community,” says Majer.

She shares that with this initiative, getting the team out into the community and establishing relationships with businesses is extremely important.

Buligan, with the Crime Prevention and Community Support Bureau, explains that many more of their initiatives are often what you’ll see out in the Caledon Community, including officers on their Auxiliary team.

Auxiliary is a group of dedicated volunteers who work with regular OPP officers, and Buligan says it is not only a stepping stone to becoming an officer but also a way to help the community.

Buligan says many of their initiatives at the Crime Prevention and Community Support Bureau, such as their Lock It or Lose It initiative, are designed to keep the community safe.

Now, Caledon OPP is here to help work with residents and businesses to create a more informed and safe community.

Rai says the CBE initiative is truly a partnership, and they are relying on businesses, police, and local government to “work in alignment to reduce risks, disrupt criminal activity, and create safer environments for employees, customers, and the broader community.”

Majer says community engagement is not just staying in your car as officers, it’s getting out of your car, building these relationships, and having these important conversations, leading to an overall safer and connected community.