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.

With all the activity the holidays is sure to bring to everyone on Thunder Bay, especially the holiday shopping and partying, the men and women in uniform from the Thunder Bay Police Service is stepping their presence up a notch to be able to do even more to the public.

In effect, we can all expect the presence of our servicemen and women patrolling the streets on their police cars and even on foot monitoring the busiest of shopping districts especially the south cores and the downtown north of Thunder Bay where everyone expects last minute shopping action to take place in huge numbers.

Officer Chris Adams, Thunder Bay Police Spokesperson, proudly stated that more devoted public servants from their department can be expected in parts of the city where all the holiday action is, naturally including the city’s busiest shopping centers and party establishments. This includes the Thunder Centre, the Intercity, and even on the two downtown cores of the city.

The Thunder Bay Police service has decided this is what’s best to keep everyone safe and sound during these busy days. Everyone will surely appreciate the department’s RIDE programs as well which has been taking residents home safely even before  the holidays.

Our men in uniform are at it again, going beyond the line of duty to help the community. This time around, the recipient of their efforts are the students of Dennis Franklin Cromarty’s high school and the special occasion in question is the year-end feast of the school itself – an annual tradition before the students leave the school in favor of their First Nation communities to celebrate the holidays themselves.

The Dennis Franklin Cromarty High School, known to others as the DFC High School, is Thunder Bay’s high school especially for our aboriginal students. The school itself has been administered by none other than the Northern Nishnawbe Education Council (NNEC) and it has been established since the year 2000. It has been service around 20 aboriginal communities in the area of Northwestern Ontario, including Thunder Bay, since then.

During the school’s yearly climax feast, some of the representatives of the Thunder Bay Police helped in serving the dinner turkey for everyone who attended the event – including the school’s staff and family together with the students. In the past, the police department’s aboriginal officer for liaison was responsible in helping serve the luncheon and the presence of even more police officers in Wednesday’s feast is a welcome gesture for the school.