Chief, police board, concerned about pot impairment

Thursday’s Sault Ste. Marie Police Services Board meeting was short, but two major concerns were brought up.

Robert Keetch, Sault Police chief, was asked by board member John Bruno if there will be additional training for officers as the federal government aims to legalize marijuana by July 1, 2018.

“Chiefs of police have expressed concerns. There are a lot of unknowns in relation to legalization,” Keetch said.  

“Impaired driving is going to be a challenge from a policing perspective, because when you look at alcohol, we have a defined standard of .08, if you exceed that, the law says you’re impaired but there is no standard yet and no means for testing (for impairment from marijuana).”

Keetch said there are currently three Drug Recognition Expert (DRE) officers within the Sault Police Service who are specially trained to recognize signs of drug impairment in individuals.

“That training is very, very expensive and it’s very difficult to get,” Keetch said.

“We think it (marijuana legalization) is going to have an impact on policing, impaired driving is going to be one of our significant challenges. There is so much that’s unknown right now, and I don’t know if we’re going to have answers within a year.”

Keetch said he hopes there will be a movement coming from police and police boards in calling for federal and provincial governments to step up and pay for training of additional DRE officers as legalization approaches. 

On another note, board member Rick Webb asked Keetch if there  are any particular causes for the increase in fraud crimes reported by Sault Police.

There were 170 reported cases of fraud as of the end of March, up over 60 per cent since the end of March 2016, and triple the number of fraud crimes reported at the end of March 2013.

“Technology,” Keetch replied.

“Phone frauds are very, very prevalent in our community, and Internet-based frauds. Many of those originate from off-site, not even within the country.”

A phone fraud currently making the rounds involves a caller who claims to represent Revenue Canada, calling individuals and threatening them with arrest concerning allegedly unpaid taxes.

Keetch said there is a Sault Police officer dedicated to documenting fraud cases and compiling reports.

That officer, said Deputy Chief Sean Sparling, is keeping an eye out for internal frauds within local businesses.

A report on Sault Police Service efforts to fight fraud will be brought to a future board meeting, Sparling said.

Another area Keetch highlighted was an increase in the number of thefts from vehicles.

There were 73 as of the end of March, compared to 27 at the end of March 2016, a 170 per cent increase.

The Chief said vehicle owners should be using more precaution.

“The public has such an opportunity to eliminate the potential of those by locking their vehicles or removing their valuables, but they don’t seem to do that,” Keetch told the board.