ESCO and Octave partner to protect more than 1.5M residents
Home to more than half a million people, the Waterloo region of Ontario sits about an hour away from Toronto.
Policing in the area leans heavily into modern technology, and that’s where the Emergency Service Cooperative of Ontario (ESCO) comes in, with a service area that balloons out to include nearly 1.5 million residents.
Run by the Waterloo Regional Police Service (WRPS), ESCO is a consortium that allows the Waterloo Regional Police; Guelph Police Service; Brantford, Stratford and South Simcoe Police Services; and dozens of fire and EMS agencies to share top-tier public safety technology.
Said ESCO Executive Director Jeff Allison, “What it does is it gives the opportunity for smaller to mid-sized police agencies, fire departments as well, an opportunity to be able to capitalize on technologies that we offer that allows them to make it so that it's more affordable.”
Added WRPS Deputy Chief Eugene Fenton, “We can leverage that economy of scale and make sure that whether you're a small service, medium or a large service, that you can get the same quality of technology and services for your frontline officers, no matter the size of your organization.”
While the system is centrally hosted, it’s flexible, allowing it to be tailored to different agencies based on their operational needs.
Octave public safety technology is the heart of the system – the foundation that powers more efficient response, from first contact to responders on the scene.
And as the population continues to grow… ESCO will continue to innovate, side by side, with Octave.
“We're delivering our core mandate, which is ensuring the safety of our public,” said Fenton.
Explore Octave’s public safety platform at https://go.octave.com/l/71752/2026-03-19/d1785r.
Policing in the area leans heavily into modern technology, and that’s where the Emergency Service Cooperative of Ontario (ESCO) comes in, with a service area that balloons out to include nearly 1.5 million residents.
Run by the Waterloo Regional Police Service (WRPS), ESCO is a consortium that allows the Waterloo Regional Police; Guelph Police Service; Brantford, Stratford and South Simcoe Police Services; and dozens of fire and EMS agencies to share top-tier public safety technology.
Said ESCO Executive Director Jeff Allison, “What it does is it gives the opportunity for smaller to mid-sized police agencies, fire departments as well, an opportunity to be able to capitalize on technologies that we offer that allows them to make it so that it's more affordable.”
Added WRPS Deputy Chief Eugene Fenton, “We can leverage that economy of scale and make sure that whether you're a small service, medium or a large service, that you can get the same quality of technology and services for your frontline officers, no matter the size of your organization.”
While the system is centrally hosted, it’s flexible, allowing it to be tailored to different agencies based on their operational needs.
Octave public safety technology is the heart of the system – the foundation that powers more efficient response, from first contact to responders on the scene.
And as the population continues to grow… ESCO will continue to innovate, side by side, with Octave.
“We're delivering our core mandate, which is ensuring the safety of our public,” said Fenton.
Explore Octave’s public safety platform at https://go.octave.com/l/71752/2026-03-19/d1785r.