A project led by the Sault Ste. Marie Police Service to address intimate partner violence — spurred on by last year’s horrific mass shooting — has resulted in eight individuals being charged.
On Monday, the Sault’s police chief told the Sault Ste. Marie Police Services Board that police have so far made 762 follow-up calls and generated 33 calls for service since the project was launched earlier this year.
“It’s an extra attempt by the service to make sure that we ask the complainant a couple times whether or not there’s anything we can do to keep them safe — and we will continue this project simply because one individual being charged would be enough to continue it,” Sault Ste. Marie Police Service Chief Hugh Stevenson told members during the police board meeting.
Officers follow up on calls for service related to intimate partner violence in which no charges are initially laid as part of the project. They also ensure that victims understand the resources available to them, and make any modifications to a safety plan for the individual.
Stevenson told board members that a number of other police services in Ontario have launched similar projects to address intimate partner violence (IPV) in their respective communities.
“It has been a success, and we will continue to do this and protect the women and children in this community,” the police chief told reporters following the open portion of Monday’s board meeting.
Sault Ste. Marie Police Service announced the launch of its IPV project on March 5, 2024 — the same day it revealed that murder victim Angie Sweeney phoned 911 from her Tancred Street address the day before she was murdered to report a verbal argument with ex-boyfriend Bobbie Hallaert. She had also informed the dispatcher that she was involved in a physical altercation with him approximately two weeks earlier.
But that information wasn't placed in the computerized notes for the call and wasn't relayed to the responding officers.
Hallaert killed Sweeney in her home the evening after that call. He then travelled to a Second Line East address, where he killed his three children — Abbie, Ally and Nate Hallaert, ages 12, 7 and 6 — before turning a gun on himself.
The project was put in place after a review of the 911 calls made by Sweeney prior to her October 23, 2023 murder.
“When we talk about this issue, we still have to bring our minds back to that tragic event of last year, and remember the loss that these families endured,” Stevenson said.
There have been 1,128 calls for service related to intimate partner violence in the first nine months of 2024 — an 11-per-cent increase over the same period in 2023.
- with files from Kenneth Armstrong