Station Mall won’t be ‘centre of choice’ for criminals, Sault Police say (3 photos)

Sault Police and community leaders gathered Friday morning at Station Mall to officially announce the upcoming opening of a satellite police station, also referred to as a JUMP office, at the shopping centre in the former Tip Top Tailors location.  

The Station Mall satellite police office was primarily the brainchild of Sault Police Constable Ryan Lillington.

“The mandate of our CORE (Community Oriented Response and Enforcement) Unit is to further build relationships with the community... it’s important to concentrate on the downtown core where a lot of issues are occurring, and having a JUMP office here at Station Mall will give our officers an opportunity to have more presence in the mall and the downtown core,” Lillington said, speaking to SooToday.

Two officers-Lillington and Constable Steven Potter, under the direction of Sergeant Darin Rossetto, will be on duty at the office (to be later joined, possibly, by a Sault Police civilian employee), with other officers using the office as needed.

“It’s important to know it’s not a drop-in centre,” Lillington said, but community and business owners can send their concerns to police by email at [email protected] with police following up on those concerns daily.

“We’re going to be down here (at the satellite station) as often as possible,” Lillington said.

Not all the time, but would-be shoplifters and drug dealers won’t know when.

Police equipment is being moved in, the office to be fully operational by Nov. 1, Lillington said.

“It’ll be fully functional,” Lillington said, with arrests made on site when necessary, adding Mike Szczepaniak, Station Mall property manager and Phil Bumbaco, Station Mall security supervisor, were “an integral part” in getting the Station Mall satellite office established.

Sault Police Chief Hugh Stevenson hailed the Station Mall satellite office as an initiative that stemmed from within the police ranks as a result of speaking with community members and businesses and listening to their concerns with crime in the downtown core.

“This idea came from your police service, it came from your frontline officers that know this community very well... I want to thank my officers for bringing this idea to me,” Stevenson said in a brief speech Friday at the mall, adding the satellite station is within the service’s budget.

“It lets those that are out there that think they can walk into stores and steal, those who figure they can sell restricted substances in the community, it lets them know and sends a message the police, the public and the stakeholders are going to work together to make this an even safer place to live and play.”

“The Sault Ste. Marie Police Service will continue to listen to your needs and concerns and we will continue to address them in a way that’s appropriate and feasible,” Stevenson said.