Chief says no tough glove for Sault officers

A check of Sault Ste. Marie Police Service equipment shows the local constabulary is not supplied with Oakley Standard Issue ‘assault gloves’ which are currently a topic of discussion within an Ottawa criminal case.

“As soon as I read of that incident I immediately asked that we do a survey internally, within our service, to see if anyone was issued them, or is carrying them, and we have no members carrying those gloves in the Sault Ste. Marie Police Service,” said Robert Keetch, Sault Ste. Marie Police Service chief.

“We issue gloves that are puncture-resistant, they’re just a soft leather glove that our officers wear as a health and safety concern in case of needle punctures.  Those gloves are issued to all officers,” Keetch told reporters after Monday’s Sault Ste. Marie Police Services board meeting.

Constable Daniel Montsion, an Ottawa Police Service officer, was charged criminally in the 2016 death of Abdirahman Abdi after it was discovered Ontario’s Special Investigations Unit (SIU) considers the gloves Montsion was wearing (Oakley Standard Issue ‘assault gloves’) at the time of Abdi’s death to be a weapon.

Charles Bordeleau, Ottawa’s police chief, has carried out an audit of his service’s equipment, but has told the Ottawa Police Services board he may be limited in what he can say while the criminal case is in progress.

On another issue of interest to law enforcement officials, as reported earlier Sault Police and other agencies will hold a town hall meeting at The Machine Shop Apr. 3 regarding drug overdoses in the community and to educate the public on Naloxone kits.

Naloxone is an antidote used to save the lives of those experiencing a drug overdose.

Naloxone was used to save lives in recently reported local overdose incidents.

RCMP officers, as well as police officers in some large Canadian cities, have been equipped with Naloxone (also known as Narcan) kits, as it is possible for an officer to become seriously ill or even die if exposed to the smell of certain drugs.

“We’re not equipped right now (with Narcan),” Keetch said.

“We’re in the process of doing a review of that and developing a policy in support of potential deployment of Narcan, but we have not as a service made a decision, nor have we gone to the board for funding to support the deployment of Narcan to individual officers.”

Keetch said EMS and “potentially” Sault Fire Services are currently equipped with Narcan.

The Narcan question will come before the Sault Police Services board “as quickly as possible,” or not at all, Keetch said, depending on what decision officers make.

Meanwhile, Constable Henry Jin, on behalf of Crime Stoppers, reported to the board 2016 was one of the group’s most successful years.

Thanks to an increase in tips and follow ups, Crime Stoppers helped police make 69 arrests and lay 111 charges last year, compared to 42 arrests and 50 charges laid in 2015.

More than $95,000 in stolen property was recovered in 2016, compared to $67,000 in 2015.

In a final item of note from Monday’s meeting, Keetch was pleased with financial matters discussed by the board.

“We reported our tentative 2016 unaudited budget to the board, $900,000 under budget…so there were significant savings without reducing services or eliminating staff,” Keetch told reporters.

The service doesn’t get to hang on to money saved, to be used for operational purposes further down the road, Keetch said.

Of the $900,000 saved in the 2016 budget, a portion went to the retirement allowance for four officers who retired in January, with about $500,000 of the surplus returned to the city, Keetch said.

“I think it’s positive news given the economic situation the community’s going in, and I think we’re attempting to rein in the perceived escalating costs of policing,” Keetch told SooToday.