Thunder Bay’s Police Service has their hands full this year, with more and more reports of substance abuse coming in from concerned residents. Police Chief Bob Herman spoke before council on Monday night detailing police issues in the City of Thunder Bay. He reported that 2608 intoxicated people were arrested in the city – a very high number consider Sudbury only apprehended 279 people. The chief pointed that indeed, the city has a substance abuse problem. And because the city only has 7 detox beds, many of those arrested are being locked up in jail, when in fact, they shouldn’t.

According to Chief Herman, this is a health issue. Police shouldn’t be locking up these individuals; they should treated by medical personnel. He notes that the city needs to address this problem with a new program and proper funding.

Another issue that’s causing problems for Thunder Bay’s Police Service is the number of non-police calls complaints they’re receiving. He said that over 25 percent of the calls the service gets having something to do with matters like a neighbor with a barking dog, or something of that sort.

Chief Herman also reasoned out why he’s against the reduction of the police service, saying that every officer is crucial, especially with the workload they have.

With the distracted driver legislation’s education period ending on the 1^st of February, the City of Thunder Bay’s Police Service is pleased to report that they only issued 8 tickets to violators, while the Ontario Provincial Police handed out seven tickets to drivers caught using their handhelds while on the road.

Thunder Bay Police traffic Sgt. Glenn Porter noted that the education period must have worked, seeing as how few violators have been caught. It’s a clear sign that some people do know better than to use their phones and other similar devices when driving, he said.

However, he also said that some people are still not complying with the law. In fact, Sgt. Porter himself stopped a man who was talking on his phone while waiting for the green light in an intersection. When he asked the drive to pull over, the man simply said that he thought the police were still giving away caution tickets. Sgt. Porter thinks that it’s only a matter of time before word spreads that police are actually laying down charges that will hurt anyone’s wallet.

Another problem Sgt. Porter observed was the high occurrence of speeding vehicles, especially on the stretch of road near Thunder Bay Mall. Police in the area have issued over 80 tickets for speeding.

As if the Thunder Bay Police’s forensic facilities were not enough to assist our brave men in uniform in their investigations, the department together with the OPP unit once again joined hands in celebrating the opening of the new Thunder Bay Forensic Identification Unit today.

The new forensic laboratory is housed in a 13,500 square foot building just next to where the Northwest OPP’s headquarters is physically located on James Street. Inside the massive facility is nothing but the latest equipments and technologies in crime fighting and investigation – just the kind of thing we normally see on the movies. This includes laboratories for chemicals and biohazard substances, a blood splatter facility, an advance fingerprinting unit, even heating and air-conditioning on the entire estate goes beyond the normal to protect the most important resource, the brave souls themselves that run the place.

The head of our Community Safety and Correctional Services graced the opening of such a landmark in our criminal investigation unit and he wisely noted that the newly opened facility has been built not for the crimes of today, but for the crimes of tomorrow if they become even more sophisticated. How’s that for being a step ahead Thunder Bay?