Traffic woes dominated the discussion of this month’s operational update for South Simcoe Police Service.
Deputy Chief Sheryl Sutton provided the update for January during the police services board meeting at the South Division building in Bradford on Wednesday, Feb. 14.
While January 2023 saw 131 motor vehicle collisions, January 2024 saw that number increase to 148, with 64 incidents in Bradford and 82 in Innisfil. Of those, 115 resulted in property damage, 15 resulted in injury and 16 involved a hit and run. None were fatal.
A majority of collisions in Bradford continue to be along Holland Street West, with Holland Street East and Simcoe Road as well as Line 8 and Sideroad 10 also being common locations that month.
Chris Gariepy, board chair, called it “amazing” that eight collisions were listed for just one address — 545 Holland St. W. — but Sutton explained the site is used to refer to the large commercial plazas near the intersection with Langford Boulevard, where crashes could be happening.
A majority of collisions in Innisfil were near Line 6 and Sideroad 10, as well as Innisfil Beach Road and Yonge Street.
Todd Canning, vice-chair, said he frequents Line 6 and sees “some horrendous things” at the light at Sideroad 20, including people driving through red lights. He also claimed “the passing that happens on sixth is insane,” and that the intersections with Sideroad 20 and Yonge Street also have issues with collisions.
“That particular line is a little out of control,” he said, adding it doesn’t get much better towards the water. “People are flying down there.”
Sutton explained the issue is largely a result of an increasing population and Innisfil Mayor Lynn Dollin noted help could be coming in future thanks to provisions in the County of Simcoe’s transportation master plan, to take control of the road.
In response to “excessive” traffic volumes and “staggering” speed stats, Bradford Mayor James Leduc noted “both communities are working hard to correct this behaviour.”
When it comes to enforcement, Chief John Van Dyke had good news.
Thanks to the implementation of the automated licence plate readers (ALPRs) and the service’s crown brief unit, local police have been able to increase the number of tickets issued under Part 3 of the Provincial Offences Act — so many that Ian Mason, court services supervisor for the police, sent the chief an email saying all of the first court appearance dates for March 20 are already booked.
“In recent memory — this is going back years — this is the first time I’ve seen this,” the chief said.
Part 3 offences are more serious than typical traffic tickets and involve a summons to appear in court. Some examples include: failing to remain at the scene of an accident, stunt driving, driving while under suspension, failing to stop for an officer and driving while you do not have insurance.
The chief explained issuing tickets for those offences can take about 1.5 hours and require filing additional documentation, but with the help from the Crown brief unit “our enforcement is going through the roof.”
January Breakdown
The report showed 2,498 calls for service in January 2024, only slightly less than the 2,590 calls in January 2023.
In total, last year set a new record for the most calls at 29,870, breaking the record previously set by the last pre-pandemic year of 2019 which had been considered an outlier with 29,738.
This January saw 50.2 per cent in Innisfil, where Patrol Zone B was busiest, and 49.8 per cent of calls in Bradford where Patrol Zones E and D were busiest.
Patrol Zone B is in Innisfil east of Sideroad 10 between Line 5 and Line 9, while Patrol Zone E is in Bradford from Holland Street south, and Patrol Zone D is in Bradford from Holland Street north.
Similarly to previous months, only 35 of January’s calls for service were deemed the highest priority.
There were some areas in which calls increased in January 2024 compared to January 2023, including:
- Thefts from vehicles increased to eight from four
- Robberies (thefts involving violence) increased to two from one
- Bylaw calls increased to 14 from seven
- Fraud increased to 27 from 20
- Shoplifting increased to 12 from 10
Calls for impaired increased slightly to 31 from 29 and calls for domestics increased slightly to 66 from 64.
However, there were other areas in which calls decreased in December 2023 compared to December 2022, including:
- Landlord disputes decreased to four from 14
- Vehicles stolen decreased to 11 from 21
- Assaults decreased to 12 from 18
- Provincial offence notices decreased to 704 from 880
- Mental health calls decreased to nine from 17
Crisis Calls
Crisis calls decreased slightly in January to 49 compared to 57 in December, with 13 of January’s calls handled by the Crisis Outreach and Support Team (COAST), while 36 were handled by front-line officers.
Sutton had previously explained that the issue came down to timing, with many crisis calls coming in at times when crisis workers weren’t available.
The average wait times for officers offloading patients at Royal Victoria Regional Health Centre in Barrie increased slightly to 2.4 hours from two hours in December, with Southlake Regional Health Centre in Newmarket seeing an even smaller increase to 1.5 hours, up from 1.4 hours in December.
While 15 calls resulted in people being taken to hospital, 25 were diverted.
Of those who were taken to hospital, seven went voluntarily.
Under certain circumstances, officers who encounter people in crisis may take them to hospital for assessment, but must remain with them until they are admitted.
New initiatives
Sutton announced that two constables began working with Barrie police on the new joint auto theft task force, which launched on Monday to tackle the ongoing issue.
The partnership between the two services was made possible in part by $1.8 million in funding over three years from the Ontario government.
Additionally, the service recently launched their offender management unit, which includes two officers who are currently responsible to monitor 19 people who are under house arrest or strict curfews.
Van Dyke described them as “high-harm individuals” and “frequent flyers,” with Sutton explaining they are mostly people who have committed “pretty serious offences” in other communities and been released to South Simcoe.
In January, the police checked on those 19 people 26 times, and laid nine criminal charges in addition to making 12 arrests for outstanding warrants, some of which were for appearances in court.
