The Sault police chief is pledging to “look at a variety of alternative options” to combat shoplifting as the number of incidents reported to police continues to rise locally.

According to the most recent statistics, there were 940 theft incidents reported in Sault Ste. Marie Police Service in the first eight months of 2024 – a 31.8% increase over the same time period last year, when 710 incidents were reported.

During a police services board meeting held Wednesday, Sault Ste. Marie Police Chief Hugh Stevenson noted that property crimes are down significantly this year.

“But that has been replaced, in my view, by an increase in shoplifting, where you can just walk into the store, steal the product, walk out — and that takes a lot less effort,” Stevenson said in his presentation before the council.

“Unfortunately, the statistics of the last two months have cumulatively shown this trend.”

Police Board Member and Ward 1 Councilman Sonny Spina asked the chief what his police department is currently doing to address the problem.

Stevenson said that while Sault Ste. Marie Police Service currently has a unit – known as the Central Support Office – that can provide security assessments and share crime prevention through environmental design (CPTED) techniques with local shop owners, he admitted that “ it only went so far.”

Spina responded that he would like to see those theft numbers “start to decrease,” adding that “proactive measures” such as target dates to reduce theft incidents are needed.

“I know the chief is working hard to support in many, many different spaces and levels, and we’re doing everything we can to support him on the federal front as well. But at the local level, I would like to see us adapt and change our response locally to reduce these numbers, because they continue to rise,” Spina said.

Stevenson pledged to meet with his senior command to look at a number of alternatives used in other jurisdictions in an effort to come up with a “different plan” to reduce theft incidents in the Sault. He expects to present that plan to the police board at its next meeting in November.

After 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 am I doing it today? The problem is the justice system. They know they’re going to be brought up on bail at some point or released — but they know they’re going to get out,” Stevenson said. “There is no negative consequence for this behavior. What’s to stop it, when their desire and need to feed their habit is always there?”

But Stevenson says he’s “thrilled” by an announcement in Ontario earlier this week calling on the federal government to “urgently” amend the Criminal Code by toughening bail laws to keep out cold-blooded and violent criminals.

The provincial government wants the feds to immediately adopt the following measures to enhance public safety, including:

• Reinstating mandatory minimum sentences for serious crimes, which this federal government has abolished, to ensure appropriate punishment and justice for victims
• Eliminate the availability of bail for offenders charged with murder, terrorism, human trafficking, intimate partner violence, drug trafficking, criminal possession or use of restricted or prohibited firearms, and robbery (eg car thefts and home invasions)
• Implement a three-strikes rule that mandates pretrial detention for repeat offenders so they are not allowed to return to the streets to commit more crimes before their day in court
• Roll back restrictions on who can get suspended sentences for serious crimes so that dangerous criminals get sentences that fit their actions
• Require ankle monitors as a condition of bail for serious crimes.
• Eliminate credits that can be applied to sentences for the time a defendant 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.”