The Thunder Bay Police Service has officially released its 2019 Annual Report.
The report provides the public with valuable information and statistical insight about the direction of its police service, and a general overview about community safety. On Tuesday, Sept. 15, the report was officially presented to the Thunder Bay Police Service Board during its regular scheduled public meeting at City Hall.
“We’ve seen a dramatic increase in 2019 compared to previous years,” said Chris Adams, Director of Communications and Technology, in regards to the calls for service police responded to.
The report shows police responded to 54,464 calls for service in 2019, which represents a six per cent increase from 2018. Total violent crime rose four per cent, while crime to property saw a dramatic increase of 17 per cent in 2019 compared to 2018.
“The source of many of these crimes can be traced back to high instances of drug trafficking, and the fallout from our city’s high addiction rates,” Adams added.
The 2019 annual report also highlights a rise in calls for service attributed to mental health incidents – 1,929.
In an effort to provide a more effective response to these serious and complex calls, the TBPS partnered with the Canadian Mental Health Association of Thunder Bay and the Thunder Bay Regional Health Sciences Centre to form a Joint Mobile Crisis Response Team.
Through the JMCRT, crisis workers partnered with police to respond to mental health and substance use related crisis calls, which “represents a significant step forward in providing support to individuals in crisis.”
Of the 1,929 mental health-related calls for service police were responded to, JMCRT was utilized 1,082 times.
The document also contains information about the Citizen Satisfaction Survey, issues of drugs, guns and gangs, and more.
You can view or download a copy of the Thunder Bay Police Service’s 2019 Annual Report here (https://www.dropbox.com/s/w7evq8jvkkffobn/Annual%20Report%202019.pdf?dl=0)