Calls for service 'way up' and for different crimes, says South Simcoe Police Chief

Growth, stability and proactive policing were the key themes for the South Simcoe Police Service in 2023 according to Chief John Van Dyke, Innisfil Mayor Lynn Dollin and Bradford Mayor James Leduc.

Those comments followed the Bradford West Gwillimbury/Innisfil Police Services Board meeting at the Innisfil Town Hall on Tuesday, Sept. 25, and came in response to the service’s annual report for 2023.

“Our calls for service are way up,” the chief said. “The landscape is changing and we’re starting to see different types of crimes coming to our communities.”

While Van Dyke acknowledged violent crime is on the rise, the report shows increases in many areas, as local police saw a 21-per-cent increase in service calls to 29,870 in 2023 from 24,688 in 2022, which “has had a huge impact on us, and everybody is very, very busy.”

When those numbers were first reported in January, Deputy Chief Sheryl Sutton explained it marked the greatest number of calls the service had ever seen in a single year, even edging out the most recent pre-pandemic year of 2019, which saw 29,738 calls.

At the time, Sutton identified community growth as “the biggest driving force,” behind the increase, which the chief echoed on Wednesday adding it has continued through this year, meaning 2023 “wasn’t a one-off.”

As a result, Van Dyke pointed to the service’s creation of a crown brief unit as one of the most important changes.

Staffed by three civilians, the unit helps complete reports, file documents, organize evidence and prepare presentations for court on behalf of officers, “so they have more time to spend in the community as opposed to sitting behind a computer.”

Leduc agreed and said he is “quite happy” to see the results as “it seems to be working,” with the estimated average amount of time officers spend on paperwork decreasing.

Not only does that mean more time to respond to calls and address issues in person, but it also means more time spent on proactive policing, which includes engaging with the public and attending community events.

“To me that’s a really important part of policing, that I think South Simcoe does that maybe other forces don’t do as well,” Dollin said.

She emphasized the importance of having the chief and other members in more casual settings like neighbourhood nights where people can just chat and kids can have fun seeing the police cruisers and motorcycles up close.

“Those things make such a difference to people’s lives and the way they interact with police when they’re older,” she said.

The other main element to proactive policing is working to detect crimes before they need to be reported, and in 2023 the service increased its proactive vehicle stops — including Reduce Impaired Driving Everywhere (RIDE) and other traffic stops — by more than 60 per cent to 10,443 from 6,405 in 2022.

That’s part of the effort to address what Leduc sees as an important issue for the service: traffic.

“That’s the number one trend going on and I think our police service is doing an excellent job of managing that the best they can,” he said.

Another area emphasized by both mayors is the Crisis Outreach and Support Team (COAST), which pairs crisis workers with officers.

“Mental health is such an issue everywhere,” Dollin said. “Having someone who is professionally trained as opposed to a police officer with that person can really help de-escalate things.”

Leduc suspects mental health issues are an underlying source of the overall increase in calls.

While he is “absolutely impressed” with the “great job” of police responding to the increase and COAST’s contribution, he also noted it’s “tough” for the community to see officers leave the area for anywhere between one and two hours, as the lack of a hospital in either Bradford or Innisfil means officers are often tasked with taking people to either Southlake Regional Health Centre in Newmarket or Royal Victoria Regional Health Centre in Barrie.

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.

All of that comes at a time when the service remains short staffed.

Despite hiring nine new recruits in 2023 and the service's 2024 budget increasing the total number of officers authorized to 112 from 104, the chief explained they haven’t filled all the positions yet.

“We have staff in the door to help us meet those needs; however, by the time they’re trained and ready to actually hit the streets it will be April of next year,” he said.

Even then, Van Dyke said the service could be short by as many as 10 officers at any given time depending on sick time, vacations and officers off on work-stress injury.

The Bradford mayor expects increased staffing levels to continue to be part of future budgets for the service.

“Folks are working hard and I want to give them the support that I can as mayor to make sure they are fully capable of performing their duties without having any issues,” he said

Dollin said she also hears and understands the need for more staff, and praised the service for providing people with stability.

“We’re doing what we need to do, and we’re there for the growing communities,” she said of the service and the board.

The annual report was originally expected to be presented as part of the Sept. 25 meeting, but Van Dyke explained it was instead brought forward during a special meeting on Aug. 7 to come closer to meeting a new requirement to have the report ready by the end of June under the Community Safety and Policing Act, which came into effect in Ontario on April 1.

Until recently, the service’s corporate communications team was short staffed, and as result, the chief said he and the deputy chief took on the task of completing the report in addition to all of their other duties.