The most recent year-to-date statistics released by the Sault Ste. Marie Police Service show a dramatic uptick in the number of shoplifting and business break-and-enter calls in the city, many of which the police chief attributes to the addiction crisis.
Many categories listed in the year-to-date reports for January and February 2024 show decreasing or relatively steady numbers versus the same month in 2023, but the 151 shoplifting calls in January was up dramatically from the 56 reported in the same month last year.
Comparing February 2024 to the same month in 2023, there were 109 shoplifting calls this year verus 67 reported in the previous year.
Chief Hugh Stevenson addressed the stats while presenting to the Sault Ste. Marie Police Services Board on Thursday.
"It looks like the trend of theft from businesses, where they walk in, take products and walk out — that's a straightforward theft," Stevenson told the board. "Those seem to be more enticing to that criminal subculture to fence off or for sustenance."
Stevenson said some businesses chose to not pursue or prosecute shoplifters under fear of litigation.
"There are several businesses, larger corporations, that maybe don't have security or do but let people walk out with a product and call the police," said Stevenson. "The product is usually gone by the time we would find them. That seems to be an industry that needs to be managed by both law enforcement, but also businesses, in terms of what they do to prevent theft."
While there is a role for police in curbing the problem, Stevenson said it's ultimately up to the businesses to implement measures to put a stop to shoplifting.
"We can't be in your stores to stop the theft, that's more of a vendor issue to deal with," said Stevenson. "There are a variety of ways — when we look across Canada from a crime prevention perspective — that our officers would be able to talk to businesses and say maybe you need to control access into your store. That's occurring in some LCBOs out west, where you need a driver's licence to go in and that's the decision of the individual corporation."
Stevenson said businesses can call the department and receive an analysis of its space and receive crime prevention tips.
The statistics also show the number of businesses being broken into has increased.
The 18 residential break-and-enter calls reported in January 2024 was down 38 per cent from the same month in 2023, when 29 calls for service were made. But on the business side, break and enters were up sharply, with 13 reported versus seven last year — an 85.7 per cent increase.
In February, 22 business break-ins were reported, versus 15 the same month in 2023.
Stevenson said, again, the problem is perpetuated by the addiction crisis.
"The people conducting break-and-enters, whether it's residential, business or other, are breaking in to find property to buy drugs," said Stevenson. "That is the number one reason across this municipality and others as to why people do break and entry."
He continued: "They take that property, they fence it, buy their drugs and it's a cycle of the drug sub-life that we have to continue to monitor and manage, but outside of just policing that's where we need treatment facilities for these people so that we can prevent that cycle from occurring."