Property crime is on the rise in the city, according to year-to-date statistics from Sault Ste. Marie Police Service.
In its report - showing the number of incidents between January and July of 2018 - city police indicate that theft is up 43.4 per cent from similar year-to-date totals in 2017.
Much of the spike in theft can be attributed to a 169 per cent increase in incidents of theft from motor vehicles - from 171 incidents from 2017, to 460 incidents in 2018.
When looking at the same year-to-date comparison, incidents of break and enter in Sault Ste. Marie have increased by 57 per cent.
Attempted break and enters have also jumped this year, from three incidents in 2017 to a total of 19 incidents in 2018.
Sault Ste. Marie Police Service Chief Hugh Stevenson says there’s a link between substance abuse and the rise of property crime, which requires a multi-faceted approach from police and local supports including social services, victim services and the Neighbourhood Resource Centre in order to break the cycle of drug abuse.
“To me, the substance abuse issue is not just a policing issue - a substance issue is a community issue, and it requires all institutions to look toward better solutions to stop this behaviour,” Stevenson told reporters during Thursday’s police services board meeting. “The police certainly have a role in terms of mitigating and stopping the distribution of those substances in our community, placing those individuals that are involved in the distribution of narcotics before the courts, which we have.”
“I think you’ve seen from our numbers in the past six months, we’ve doubled the number of arrests we’ve had,” he continued. “So we’ll do our part, and others are doing their part as well.”
“But for me, this issue is a community issue.”
Stevenson says that the spike in crime is also compounded by the number of “catch and release scenarios” in the city, prompting the chief of police to address the issue with Sault Ste. Marie MPP Ross Romano during a talk that happened a couple months back.
“We’re seeing that a lot of times, these individuals are arrested five or six times, they’ll be on six or seven releases - and by three o’clock, they’ll be back on the street,” said Stevenson. “This is costing the community just not in budget, but in public safety, and I think as a society we need to be more vigilant in who we hold and who we release.”
When asked about the criteria for holding a person, Stevenson says that Sault Ste. Marie Police Service is doing its part to provide the necessary information to bail court.
After that, it’s up to the courts to make the call as to whether someone is ultimately held or released.
“Well, we follow the criminal code, and the criminal code says that if you have primary and secondary grounds for holding someone, that you put that evidence before bail court,” Stevenson said. “Our officers and the crown have been doing that.”
“Unfortunately, the interpretation of that is something I can’t control - that’s before the courts.”
Stevenson says that more discussion is needed to address his concerns surrounding catch and release.
“I still think the discussion should continue to occur about mitigating the bail release issues we’re having in this community,” he said.
According to the same year-to-date statistics for 2018, robberies in the city have increased by 79.2 per cent from last year.