Regardless of the circumstances, don’t take the law into your own hands.
That from Sault Police Chief Hugh Stevenson.
There have been word of mouth reports of residents in some Sault neighbourhoods carrying items such as baseball bats, not to attack criminals, but prepared to defend themselves and their property.
“Obviously I would never support vigilantism. The police role is to defend and create safety in the community. I am aware of some incidents. I would encourage people to phone 911 and we will respond. We’re trained, we understand how to deal with people in crisis, how to deal with use of force, and I would leave that to the police to do,” Stevenson told SooToday in a recent interview in his office.
“Everyone has the right to defend themselves in this country, however the legal implications of that (carrying baseball bats and other items for self defence) are they’re taking the law into their own hands to a degree, and I would suggest if there are situations where people feel they aren’t getting service from the police, they call us, and we’ll deal with it on an individual or community basis.”
The Sault Police Service, Stevenson said, has a tiered 911 service, designed for police to respond immediately to the most important calls first (such as break-ins in progress).
“If you or me are faced with imminent harm, and you call 911, I guarantee you a police response. Based on the level of need that’s identified in our system, we will be there.”
If there is an individual especially concerned with the issue of neighbourhood crime and self defence, Stevenson said “he can call me, and I’d be more than happy to go out and have a coffee and sit down and discuss those concerns, and maybe I can learn more about what the situation is, but I would never suggest people take the law into their own hands. That’s what we’re paid to do.”
On another topic, Stevenson commented on a July 23 national media report which stated the number of sexual assaults reported to police is rising, while the number of sexual assault reports deemed as ‘unfounded’ by police is on the decrease due to the wake of the #MeToo movement, according to a new statistical look at crime in Canada.
“From reading up on our own statistics, it’s shown that the new definition of sexual assault is much more inclusive, and as I understand it, we are seeing an increase in sexual assaults and a decrease in the unfounded sexual assault occurrences,” Stevenson said.
Sex offences include unwanted touching, inappropriate comments or the expectation of sex.
However, Stevenson said “we’re not sure if the actual number of reported sexual assaults has increased, or if the increase is simply due to a change in how the occurrences are being classified.”
In 2016, Sault Police reported 35 unfounded cases, 14 in 2017.
In 2016 there were 68 verified cases of sexual assault, 84 in 2017.
“What I understand is the new definition basically states we must classify an occurrence as a founded offence unless there is evidence to prove the reported offence did not happen, so we presume it happened and we investigate, which is good for the public, good for public safety and therefore these things are dealt with appropriately by our investigative services,” Stevenson said.
“I see it as a positive thing. There clearly was an under reporting and we want to make sure the appropriate resources are out into that particular offence category and with the new definition that will facilitate that.”
Stevenson also made reference to a recent Leger Research telephone survey of Sault residents made on behalf of Sault Police, designed to gather input from citizens in regard to local crime and public safety.
500 people were surveyed by phone.
Geographically, citizens across town were surveyed, asked about key issues relevant to crime and policing, including:
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opioid use
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break and enters
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safety on the streets
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youth crime
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vandalism
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rating of issues which are of most concern and least concern
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whether they feel certain offences have increased, decreased or remained constant over time
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if they feel there should be greater police visibility, enforcement and communication
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how they feel Sault Police have conducted themselves in communication with the public (from very bad to very good)
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where police should spend more or less of their time and resources
Responses to these questions and several others in the survey were broken down in terms of demographics, Stevenson said.
“As a new chief it’s good to know what the community’s perceptions are of crime and disorder, how we treat people, where they want to see more of something or less of something, and what it does is allow the senior management team and myself to be more informed as to where the community wants us to go...where we can improve, and there’s always room for improvement.”
“Myself and my senior management team are absolutely open to listening, and this (telephone survey) is one other way of doing it,” Stevenson said.
“We’ll take that information and it’ll form part of our business plan to move forward...we’ll run another survey in six to eight months, the same survey, and we’ll look and see if they’ve sensed an improvement.”
Stevenson anticipated the survey’s results will be made public at some point.
“The survey gives me and city council and the Police Services Board an opportunity to know exactly where the community sits...we are listening to the community (not only through the survey, but interacting with the public and gathering input at public events, such as Rotaryfest).”
“The number one concern (through speaking face to face with the public) is drug usage in the downtown core. The businesses have told us, the people have told us, a group of ladies told me personally they have concerns about shopping in the downtown core.”
Stevenson said he has not heard so much in terms of what people want ‘less of’ but rather ‘more of’ when it comes to policing, pointing to the launch of Project H.E.A.T. (High Enforcement Action Team) in July as an example.
Police displayed seized drugs, weapons and cash to the media at the Sault Police Service building Tuesday as a showcase of the project’s success so far.