Crime is down, use-of-force is up

City police will not be adopting body-worn cameras despite a rise in use-of-force incidents in 2014, says Police Chief Bob Keetch.

Keetch presented crime statistics for 2014 at the Sault Ste. Marie Police Services Board meeting Thursday afternoon.

During the meeting Keetch presented statistics for the year 2014, which included a 23-percent rise in use-of-force by officers from the service over the previous year.

In 2013 there were 30 incidents of use-of-force reported. That number rose to 37 for calendar year 2014.

 “Am I concerned that we’ve gone from 30 to 37? Not by sheer number. We’ll look at those in a sense of what type of force was used, what were the circumstances surrounding that, was the level of force justified in relation to the incident?” he said.

Use-of-force reports are created any time an officer draws their weapon in the presence of the public, points a firearm at a member of the public or discharging of a weapon.

Use of a weapon other than a firearm (aerosol spray, TASER, baton, etc) or use of physical force on another person that requires medical attention are also reported as use-of-force.

Among the use-of-force incidents reported to the board was an incident in December in which police allege an accused was threatening and yelling at officers to shoot him. A TASER was used to take the accused into custody without further incident.

Although some police services in Ontario are undertaking pilot projects to assess body-worn cameras for their front-line officers, Keetch said he is in no rush to adopt them locally.

“The jury is still out on the value of those and there’s tremendous work that has to be done to implement them,” he said.

That work includes training, capturing and storage of footage as well as determining how to disclose and vet the data.

The police service is in the process of compiling an annual report and will break down the 37 use-of-force reports and submit that information to the board at a future meeting.

Keetch was encouraged by crime statistics for 2014, which mostly show a downward trend year-over-year.

“Crime trending downwards is a positive thing,” he said.

As an example, reports of robbery were down over 46-percent, while sexual assault reports were down almost 62-percent over the violent crimes reported in the previous year.

Property crimes were also trending down, with break and enters, vehicle thefts and fraud all showing double-digit percentage reductions.

Keetch said the statistics reaffirm a key message to the city.

“Sault Ste. Marie is a safe place to live,” he said.

This was the first meeting for new Mayor Christian Provenzano, who was in attendance.

(FILE PHOTO: Detail of a Sault Ste. Marie Police Services officer with TASER holstered. Kenneth Armstrong/SooToday)