A pilot project recently launched by Sault Ste. Marie Police Service to address intimate partner violence in the aftermath of last year’s mass shooting has led to charges being laid in four cases so far this year.
A total of 271 follow-up calls have been made to individuals involved in previous calls for service linked to intimate partner violence, Sault Police Chief Hugh Stevenson told members of the Sault Ste. Marie Police Services Board last week. Of those follow-up calls, 14 have led to further investigation by police.
Charges have been laid in relation to intimate partner violence in four cases since the pilot project was announced March 5 — the same day Sault Police 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.
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 pilot project was put in place after a review of the 911 calls made by Sweeney prior to her October 23, 2023 murder.
“This is an example of four scenarios we would not have known about had we not called back,” Stevenson said of the four charges laid as a result of the pilot project when addressing members of the police services board last week.
Officers also ensure individuals are aware of the resources that are available to them and help make any modifications to safety plans.
A total of 1,387 intimate partner violence calls were reported for 2023 — a slight increase over the 1,351 reported in the previous year.
Six investigations linked to intimate partner violence that have been launched since the inception of the pilot project are ongoing.
- with files from Kenneth Armstrong