Serious incidents drive up overtime costs for Sault Police

Nearly 60 serious incidents contributed to police spending a five-year high of $1.37 million in overtime between Janaury and November of last year

On Oct. 27, 2023 flowers at the scene of a mass murder-suicide on Second Line East that claimed the lives of three children earlier in the week, ages 6, 7 and 12. On Oct. 23, gunman Bobbie Hallaert killed 41-year-old Angie Sweeney in a seperate scene before making his way to Second Line East, killing the children and injuring a 45-year-old woman before fatally turning the gun on himself.Kenneth Armstrong/SooToday

A number of serious incidents led to a surge in overtime costs for Sault Ste. Marie Police Service during the first 11 months of 2023.

On Thursday, the police services board heard that Sault Police forked over $1.37 million on overtime between January and November of last year — the most money the municipal police service has spent on overtime in five years.

Sault Ste. Marie Police Service Chief Hugh Stevenson attributed part of that increase to 58 “very serious incidents” in the city.

“It was a busy year,” Stevenson told police service board members during the open portion of Thursday’s board meeting.

A total of five homicides — including a mass shooting that left four dead — and a pair of attempted murders drove up overtime costs, in addition to a handful of arsons and two “significant” missing person investigations, Stevenson told board members.

This past May, Ruby Kerr was found safe after the 11-year-old went missing for more than 24 hours. The Holy Cross elementary school student was eventually reunited with her parents after vanishing from the St. Kateri Outdoor Learning Centre while taking part in the school’s Outdoor Learning Program.

Jake Corbiere, meanwhile, has been missing since the 39-year-old disappeared from the Churchill Avenue area in March of last year, despite Sault Police deploying “significant police resources” during an “extensive” search in the city’s west end this past August, according to releases from the police service last year.

A number of serious incidents also drove up the number of use-of-force reports filed by members of Sault Ste. Marie Police Service in 2023. In all, 167 use-of-force reports were filed by police after responding to 100 incidents last year. A total of 134 reports were filed in 2022.

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