The Sault’s police chief is pledging to “look at a variety of alternative options,” to combat shoplifting as the number of incidents reported to police continue to rise locally.
According to the most recent statistics, there have been 940 shoplifting incidents reported to the Sault Ste. Marie Police Service in the first eight months of 2024 — a 31.8-per-cent increase over the same time frame last year when 710 incidents were reported.
During a meeting of the police services board held Wednesday, Sault Ste. Marie Police Service Chief Hugh Stevenson noted that property crimes are down significantly overall this year.
“But that’s been displaced by, in my view, an increase in shoplifting where they can simply walk into the store, steal the product, walk out — and that takes a lot less effort,” Stevenson said in his presentation to the board.
“Unfortunately, the statistics over the last two months cumulatively have shown that trend.”
Police board member and Ward 1 Coun. Sonny Spina asked the chief what his police service is currently doing to address the issue.
Stevenson said that while Sault Ste. Marie Police Service currently has a unit — known as the Central Support Bureau — that can provide security assessments and share Crime Prevention Through Environmental Design (CPTED) techniques with local store owners, he conceded that it “only goes so far.”
Spina replied that he’d like to see those shoplifting numbers “start to come down,” adding that “proactive measures,” such as target dates for a reduction in shoplifting incidents, are needed.
“I know the chief is working hard to advocate at many, many different spaces and levels, and we’re doing what we can to support him as well on the federal front. But locally, I’d like to see us adapt and change our response locally to bring those numbers down, because they just continue to rise,” Spina said.
Stevenson has pledged to sit down with his senior command to look at a number of alternatives being used in other jurisdictions in an effort to come up with a “different plan” to reduce shoplifting incidents in the Sault. He expects to present that plan to the police services board during its next meeting in November.
Following the open portion of Wednesday’s board meeting, the police chief told reporters that people didn’t steal in the past because they knew there were repercussions.
“Why are they doing it today? The issue is the justice system. They know they’ll be brought before bail at some point or released — but they know they’re getting out,” said Stevenson. “There’s no negative consequence to this behaviour. What will stop it, when their desire and need to feed their habit is always there?”
But Stevenson says he’s “excited” by an announcement from Ontario earlier this week, calling on the federal government to “urgently” amend the Criminal Code by tightening bail legislation in order to keep repeat and violent offenders off the streets.
The provincial government wants the feds to immediately adopt the following measures to enhance public safety, including:
- Restore mandatory minimum sentencing for serious crimes, which this federal government removed, to ensure appropriate penalties and justice for victims
- Remove bail availability for offenders charged with murder, terrorism, human trafficking, intimate partner violence, drug trafficking, criminal possession or use of restricted or prohibited firearms, and robbery (ie. carjackings and home invasions)
- Mandate a three-strike rule requiring pre-trial detention for repeat offenders so they are not allowed back on the street to commit more crimes before their day in court
- Bring back restrictions on who can get conditional sentences for serious crimes so dangerous criminals receive sentences that match their actions
- Require ankle monitors as a condition of bail for serious crimes.
- Remove credits that can be applied to sentences for time an accused spends in jail before trial for repeat and violent offenders.
The police chief applauded both Ontario Premier Doug Ford and Sault Ste. Marie MPP Ross Romano for “moving in this direction.”
“I support the Ontario government’s approach to this,” Stevenson said. “Anything more than what we have now is a good thing.”