A recent study undertaken by Sault Ste. Marie Police Service suggests that more and more people with multiple arrests are being released back into the public since the federal government passed Bill C-75 last year.
The study, completed at the request of the Police Services Board, compared 25 per cent of the 447 arrests made between January 1 and May 15 of 2019 to 25 per cent of the 344 arrests made in the same time period in 2020.
A total of 40 per cent of people were charged once and released in 2019. In 2020, that number jumped to 50 per cent.
The number of people charged twice and released rose from 28 per cent in 2019 to 36 per cent in 2020.
People who were charged three times and subsequently released increased from 40 per cent in 2019 to 54 per cent in 2020.
A total of four people were charged four times and released in 2020. There were no such cases the year before.
“This was hand-bombed. It wasn’t some special computer program - this our statistician pulling each one of those files and looking at it,” Sault Ste. Marie Police Service Chief Hugh Stevenson told SooToday following Thursday’s Police Services Board meeting. “It’s 25 per cent of the population we dealt with over that time period. So it’s powerful, and it substantiates our position that they’re continuing to commit the offence, which puts the public at risk.”
Stevenson noted to police board members at Thursday’s meeting that one of the individuals in that study has been arrested 22 times and released 14 times since December 2019.
Stevenson tells SooToday the driver of the issue is that people dealing with long-term drug use issues are being released back onto the street after their second, third and fourth offence - with no support.
“This person doesn’t necessarily need detainment, per se, he or she needs treatment,” he said. “They need to be off the street, and we can’t keep this cycle of in and out of a police car, and never going back to the station, and never being given an opportunity - or the reality of - getting treated for their issues.”
“It’s a lot bigger than just policing, right? It’s about community health. It’s about getting people treatment for long-term drug use.”
After Stevenson presented the force’s findings on the catch-and-release issue, police board member Ian MacKenzie lamented a “broken” system.
“The justice system is broken, and something needs to be done - and it’s got to come from the justice system,” said MacKenzie Thursday. “It must be so frustrating for our law enforcement officers to arrest people, charge them and within days, maybe even weeks, they’re arrested again. Same people, and going through the motions again and again.”
Stevenson says that while Sault Ste. Marie Police Service “wholeheartedly” supports Bill C-75, the federal legislation that came into effect last year isn’t working where it should be - out on the street.
“But at the end of that day, the reality is that these decisions have to be tested on the street, and what we’re finding is that people are not getting the supports they need on their own,” he said. “They’re continuing to recidivate, which means something’s not working.”