Property crimes reported to police are down overall in the first four months of 2021, according to the most recent year-to-date statistics from Sault Ste. Marie Police Service.
There were 245 reported property crimes from January to April of this year, a decrease of 23.2 per cent when compared to 319 reported incidents during the same four-month period in 2020.
“That’s showing that the crimes of property, if we look at it statistically from January to April of both years, are statistically significantly down,” Sault Ste. Marie Police Service Chief Hugh Stevenson told board members during Thursday’s Police Services Board meeting.
A breakdown of reported property crimes
Break-ins to residences are down 68.2 per cent, from 205 during the first four months of 2020 to 169 reported break-ins to homes in the same time period this year.
Break-and-enters to businesses during that same four-month period have seen a 17 per cent decrease, from 88 last year to 28 this year.
Attempted break-and-enters are down 27.6 per cent compared to last year, from 29 in 2020 to 21 this year.
Vehicle thefts are also down, from 55 last year to 38 this year. Fraud is also down 32.6 per cent.
Although reported thefts overall are down 7.8 per cent in the first four months of 2021, there has been a 41.2 per cent spike in shoplifting incidents (161 this year, up from 114 last year).
Break-ins to sheds, garages trending up
But break-ins to sheds and outlying buildings on properties have seen a spike from January to April of 2021.
Property crimes labelled ‘other’ in the police service’s monthly report to the Police Services Board has seen an 84.6 per cent increase, from 26 during the first four months of last year compared to 48 during the same period this year, which Stevenson calls “significant.”
The chief of police, speaking with SooToday following Thursday’s police board meeting, says it may be due in part to those structures being considered an easier target.
“One reason they may have increased during April is that they’re simply an easier target to break into, given that there’s no one in there, they’re sort of not monitored by property owners as they could be, or simply they’re more available and an easier target,” he said.
Chief responds to vandalism, thefts from downtown businesses
While break-ins to businesses have been down overall during the first four months of this year, incidents of vandalism and theft at downtown businesses are being shared on social media more recently.
“There’s no doubt that long-term drug usage and a failure of Bill C-75 has allowed both these issues to come together in a perfect storm where there’s a lack of deterrents in the justice system for people that think they can engage in these behaviours and try and test the system,” said Stevenson, when asked by SooToday about acts of theft and vandalism occurring at businesses downtown. “I guarantee you in this city that anyone that commits criminal offences will be arrested and prosecuted and put before the courts. That’s our role under the Police Services Act. That’s what we signed up to do...and we do that quite well.”
“But you cannot have people being brought before the justice system, released, rearrested within a day or two - or in some cases, the very same day, with the recognizance in their pocket.”
The chief of police notes a recent arrest where a firearm was seized. That person ended up being released the same day with conditions for drug and firearm offences.
“Is it right, is that fair? That’s not my decision - that’s the court’s decision,” said Stevenson. “But I can tell you as your chief of police we are constantly petitioned by members of the community, ‘chief, why is this happening?’ And I say, we need legislative change.”
“Legislation, sometimes when it’s first produced, theoretically works. But I can tell you from a number of perspectives, both police and governance authorities, that this legislation needs to be amended to protect the public. And that means in certain situations, people are held under bail conditions under the Criminal Code and or treatment conditions - and it has to be addressed.”