The Sault Ste. Marie Police Service will conduct an immediate pilot project to review every intimate partner violence (IPV) call for service that does not result in an arrest.
The six-month pilot project was created as a result of a review of the circumstances surrounding last October's mass murder in the Sault — and is being put into place immediately, said Chief Hugh Stevenson during a Tuesday afternoon press conference.
On the night of Oct. 23, 2023, Bobbie Hallaert attended a Tancred Street address where he shot and killed ex-girlfriend Angie Sweeney. He then drove to a Second Line home where he killed his three children — Abbie, Nate and Ally — and wounded a second woman before fatally turning the gun on himself.
Stevenson revealed today that Sweeney phoned 911 from the Tancred Street address the day before the murders to report a "verbal argument" with Hallaert. She also informed the dispatcher that she had a physical altercation with him approximately two weeks earlier.
However, that information was not placed in the computerized notes for the call and was not relayed to the responding officers.
"The officer spoke with the victim multiple times and did ask if there ever had been a physical altercation now or in the past," Stevenson said of the Oct. 22 incident. "The officer did not receive that information and do not have the grounds to make an arrest that day."
Stevenson noted the 911 operator may not have heard the information about the physical altercation.
"We had a system of dispatching up until now where the same dispatcher took the call and then dispatched it and during that time period the phone line was left open," he said. "She may have been dispatching the units to the scene when this disclosure was made."
Those missed details were critical in developing the pilot project announced during the press conference, Stevenson said.
"Over the past month I suggested doing a study to look at the number of occurrences that are similar to the Hallaert case where the police attended for property removal and see how that correlated to arrests in the future," he said. "Our summary in the last week said there's no time to do studies."
Starting immediately, Sault Police will automatically review all IPV calls that do not result in an arrest.
"These type of calls include verbal disputes when officers attend to allow for a peaceful exchange of property. It can come from third-party calls or shouting and yelling where there is no charges laid," said Stevenson.
A review of the 911 recording from the Oct. 22 call from Sweeney to police would likely have resulted in that information being found, said Stevenson.
"A review of all calls that don't result in charges will uncover that," he said.
The pilot project may be the first in Ontario to review IPV calls where no arrest is made, he said.
"We're also developing enhanced training for a dispatch and front line members and, as a quality assurance piece, we will now routinely review calls for service to ensure there is a high quality of professionalism, empathy and decision making by our staff," said Stevenson.
Sault Police met with members of the victims' families prior to the announcement to share its findings.
"I know one of my staff had reached out to Women in Crisis just before and the reason we did that was we wanted to make sure everybody's aware of what we found and what we're doing about it," said Stevenson.
Stevenson did not have an estimate on how much time would be involved in enacting the pilot project.
The full press release about today's announcement can be seen below:
The Sault Ste. Marie Police Service continues to evaluate Intimate Partner Violence (IPV) and how we can best serve and support victims in our community.
Through the ongoing review of the four homicides in the fall of 2023, we have identified areas in which Chief Stevenson and Senior Command can better support our members who are responding to emergency calls.
Sault Police have thoroughly reviewed all 911 calls from the victims in this incident. The day before the homicides, the deceased adult victim phoned police during a verbal argument with Bobbie Hallaert. During this call, the victim mentioned to the 911 Communicator that she had a physical altercation roughly two weeks prior with Hallaert.
This information was not relayed to the responding officer. The responding officer did speak with the victim multiple times that day and did ask if there had ever been current or historical physical abuse. The officer did not receive that information and did not have reasonable and probable grounds to make an arrest. The victims' next of kin have been notified of the results of Sault Police's evaluation of the calls.
“I have a responsibility to this community and to our members to provide the best tools, training, and complement of staff to support victims and ensure public safety, says Chief Hugh Stevenson. “I, along with our senior leaders, will continue to explore all options to enhance the level of service we deliver.”
As the review of IPV related processes continues, some areas of focus will be:
- Updating our IPV policy and our Communications and Dispatch policy.
- Enhanced training for all Central Emergency Reporting Bureau (CERB), aka dispatch, members.
- Routinely review calls for service to ensure high quality of professionalism, empathy, and decision making.
- Launch of a pilot project to follow-up on all IPV related calls that do not result in charges. This includes calls which are verbal arguments only, as well as when officers attend to ensure the exchange of property in an IPV incident is peaceful.
“I am a strong believer in the notion there is always room to improve,” adds Chief Stevenson. “It’s crucial we share the results of this review and the areas of improvement we identify. We will continue to lead by example to ensure the public’s trust in their police service.”