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Protective Services Report

MAY 2020

St. Thomas Police Service Tanya Calvert Corporate Communications Coordinator

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Officers Prepping For a Busy 2020 Year to date incidents as of Midnight March 31st 2020 = 4 943 Total Incidents for the month of April 2019 – 1 657 Total incidents for the month of April 2020 - 1 719 Weekend Call Tracker The weekend call tracker reports the amount of calls for service during the weekends tracked from Friday at 4 pm until Monday at 6 am. April 04/05 – 161 Incidents April 11/12 – 138 Incidents April 18/19 – 126 Incidents April 25/26 – 149 Incidents Saturday April 4thth: St. Thomas Police Officers responded to 71 incidents in the last 24 hours Wednesday April 29th: St. Thomas Police Officers responded to 64 incidents in the last 24 hours. STPS Increase Beat Presence and Plan to Open Temporary Satellite Location. The closure of non-essential businesses in Ontario may cause businesses owners to worry about the safety of their store fronts and the overall wellbeing of their business community. Our city has seen an increase in property crime since the COVID 19 outbreak largely due to the fact that citizens are not out and about deterring crime. Right now Officers are missing that extra set of eyes and ears the public provide to help us solve crime. In an effort to curb the uptick in property crime the St. Thomas Police Service is enhancing beat patrol in the

downtown core. The service also plan on opening a temporary satellite base next week. The satellite base will be located in tourism booth located on the north side of Talbot Street near Moore St. The satellite location will offer Officers easy and convenient access to technology while maintaining presence at the west end. Our Beat Patrol Unit in the downtown core is up and running helping businesses and the community! Beat Patrol nabbed a shoplifter yesterday

afternoon running from a downtown pharmacy with $150 in stolen product.

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Although this unit will be using the tourism building on Talbot at Moore Street as their satellite base please do not go there to make a report. The door is locked as we continue to practice pandemic screening procedures and physical distancing. All calls for service must still come through our communications centre at 519-631-1224 or 911 for emergencies Officers will be dispatched accordingly.

National Public Safety Telecommunicators Week Our appreciation for the team of amazing, hardworking dispatchers was celebrated the week of April 13th – 17th.Thank you to all our communicators who are the first voice you hear at STPS! 💙💙❤🚔🚔

There When You Need Them the "M.O.S.T" The Mobile Outreach Support Team (MOST) is officially launched and ready to support. We are so appreciative of CMHA worker Yvonne for joining our team back in January and excited to introduce our second CMHA worker Brianne! We are pleased to announce that The St. Thomas Police Service is now able to offer Mental Health Support from 8 am to 11 pm every weekday. Yvonne and Brianne will be working closely with Constable Jeremy Linker as the three dedicate themselves to assisting those struggling with mental health related issues. Please join us in welcoming Brianne to the STPS Family

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COVID-19 and the EMERGENCY ORDER kept STPS very busy with education and enforcement. Misinterpretation and misinformation left the service no choice but to clear the air on many topics from walking your dog to sitting in your backyard. STPS Presents......THE TRUTH We all know social media is the best and worst place to find information. Everyone from leading experts to your talking dog can upload a post. Most of the time it's easy to recognize what's serious and what's silly....but sometimes the lines get blurred and that is how misinformation begins. Watch where you source your information. Only take it from professional, official sites......like ours! So in response to a currently circulating post about STPS Officers stopping people to see why they are out driving and supposedly directing you to go home if your reason is deemed nonessential........the post is: NOT TRUE. During this pandemic staying home means staying safe. But if you need to escape the confines of home by going for a drive, then by all means GO AHEAD but just drive! Don't go to an essential store to browse and pass the time. Need a morning walk/ jog to help you cope with the day ahead? LACE UP. Just please please please use common sense. Don't cram a bunch of people into the vehicle. Don't jog in a group. Practice physical distancing at all times. Wash your hands. It will save lives.

A Day for Remembering

The St Thomas Police Service was honoured to accept and display this floral tribute delivered to the Colin McGregor Justice Building today. The flowers were given as a symbol to honour the memory of RCMP Constable Heidi Stevenson along with more than nineteen others killed in

Nova Scotia by a gunman. We mourn with you the tragic loss of loved ones and pray for healing to the injured.

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Vacant Building Members of The St. Thomas Police Service attended a vacant building located at 104 Inkerman Street this morning to search the location for trespassers. Police had received information on several occasions the building was being used as shelter for the homeless and neighbours report several individuals were seen frequenting the area. The building had been boarded up by the property owner however the boards were easily removed allowing access. Once inside Officers removed one male and discovered areas that indicate several people may be living in the unsafe conditions of the dilapidated building. Drug paraphernalia and stolen property were also located inside. Police continue to work with other enforcement agencies to secure the building and keep the area safe for neighbourhood residents. Incidents of Note: Assault on hospital worker On April 5th police were called to the St. Thomas Elgin General Hospital after a security guard was allegedly assaulted by a visitor in the emergency department. A woman became frustrated over pandemic rules in the emergency room triage area. The woman refused to listen to staff' requests. A security guard stepped in and advised the woman that if she did not abide by the rules police would be called. The woman kicked the security guard then left the hospital and drove away. The 67 year

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old woman was identified and arrested a short time later by police. She has been charged with one count of assault and released with a future court date. Beat Patrol Officers Nab Shoplifter Twenty nine year old Jordan Fiveash of St. Thomas was arrested after a short foot chase with two officers on beat patrol. Fiveash is alleged to have stolen $150 worth of product from a Talbot Street pharmacy and fled out the front door. Officers in the area were alerted by staff and Fiveash was taken into custody a short distance away. Fiveash was transported to the Colin McGregor Justice Building for processing and charged with one count Theft Under $5000. He was later released on a Promise to Appear in court. Drugs Forty four year old Lucas Heffren of St. Thomas was arrested after an alert citizen called in suspicious activity at a Ross Street parking lot. When officers arrived they discovered Heffren in breach of his court ordered release conditions. Heffren was taken into custody without incident by police and transported to the Colin McGregor Justice Building. 12.5 grams of Crystal Methamphetamine with a street value of $1250 was seized from Heffren during processing. Heffren was charged one count Breach of Release and one count Drug Possession. He was later released on an Undertaking with court date. Intoxicated Woman Spits on Officers A twenty one year old St. Thomas woman was arrested at a Miller Street residence. Police were responding to an unwanted party at the home and discovered the intoxicated female refusing to leave after several requests were made. As Officers took the woman into custody she became combative kicking, screaming and spitting on Police. The woman was eventually transported to the Colin McGregor Justice Building where she was charged with Resist Arrest and Assault Police. The woman was later released on an Undertaking with court date. Youth Arrested Charged With Impaired Drug Bust Officers from the Street Crimes Unit of the St. Thomas Police Service arrested two individuals, seized thirty thousand dollars’ worth of drugs and eighteen thousand dollars in Canadian Currency after executing a search warrant at a local motel. The warrant comes after months of investigation into drug trafficking in the city of St. Thomas. Two hundred and twenty five grams of Cocaine with a street value of $22,500 was seized along with a quantity of Heroin, Crack Cocaine, illicit Dilauded and Hydromorphone tablets. A thirty three year old St. Thomas woman and a twenty seven year old London man were taken into custody without incident and transported to the Colin McGregor Justice Building for processing. They were both charged with five counts of Possession for the Purpose of Trafficking and later released on an Undertaking with court date.

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Public Relations THANK YOU TO ALL OUR COMMUNTY PARTNERS WHO HAVE GIVEN US A TREMENDOUS AMOUT OF SUPPORT DURING THESE DIFFICULT TIMES. CONRAD DENTURE CLINIC donated masks NORTH 49 VAPE SHOP donated hand sanitizer NAPA AUTO PARTS donated hand sanitizer CANADIAN TIRE donated hand sanitizer THE LAYLE FAMILY donated cookies and brownies THE CORCORAN FAMILY donated subway lunch THE BENDEL FAMILY delivered cupcakes YARMOUTH MUTUAL INSURANCE delivered flowers BETTY ERSKIN-JONG donated cotton masks THE ABDEY FAMILY donated N95 masks THE ASHFORD FAMILY for drawing words of encouragement

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Jan Feb Mar AprCHARGES Jan Feb Mar Apr

CRIMINAL CODE 206.00 87.00 154.00 154.00

CDSA 8.00 6.00 4.00 14.00

CA 0.00 1.00 0.00 0.00

YCJA 2.00 0.00 2.00 0.00

HTA 418.00 428.00 209.00 37.00

LLA 5.00 7.00 11.00 4.00

CAIA 39.00 26.00 6.00 3.00

TPA 18.00 23.00 14.00 27.00

EPA 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00

SSA 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00

DOLA 0.00 2.00 0.00 0.00

FCSA 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00

FLA 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00

POA 3.00 14.00 0.00 0.00

SOR 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00

ORVA 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00

SFOA 3.00 0.00 1.00 1.00

TTA 2.00 0.00 2.00 1.00

OSPCA 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00

RSA 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00

CCA 0.00 1.00 1.00 0.00

TOTAL POA 488.00 501.00 244.00 73.00

MVC - Fatal 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00

MVC - Injuries 4.00 4.00 3.00 1.00MVC - No Injuries (not 29.00 21.00 28.00 11.00

By-Law 9.00 10.00 3.00 2.00

3-5 Parking 125.00 106.00 17.00 0.00

Incidents 1,693.00 1,499.00 1,751.00 1,719.00

Arrests 170.00 120.00 151.00 115.00