A city councillor is finding Thunder Bay police deal with the same people, over the same issues, on a regular basis.
During a ride along with police Thursday night, Aldo Ruberto noted police helped one intoxicated person on Arthur Street, but that wasn’t the end of it.
“We later saw the same individual by himself by the railway tracks, even more intoxicated. The officer went out and said “You know what, you’re too intoxicated to let me allow to let you to keep walking out here, because you’re by the railway, you might get hurt.”
The At-large councillor adds he was very impressed with the professional and compassionate nature in which the police worked.
He also heard the cry from Thunder Bay police that roughly 200 officers for this city is not enough, especially when it comes to taking people to the hospital.
They can’t leave until a doctor authorizes them to do so.
“The doctors going crazy running around looking at 50-60 individuals. By the time he gets to that officer, it could be one hour, it could be 5 hours. So, you could have 3, 4 or 5 officers tied up there.”
The city councillor added solutions must be found, such as having care of the patient given to the hospital sooner, so police can return to the streets.
And then there’s the mountains of paperwork officers have to deal with daily, even for just one incident.
“25 to 30, 40 minutes…. filling out a report, this is nothing. Wait till we have a domestic dispute, if we’re arresting someone else, it’s way more intense. It’s like an hour, 2 hours, 3 hours sometimes you’re tied up. Or at the hospital, you know, when you have to wait there.”
The At-large councillor added big changes are needed in the judicial, legal and mental health systems for Thunder Bay police to be more effective.
Another issue Ruberto heard about was criminals wanted who travel province to province. He said an arrest warrant from any other province isn’t valid in Ontario, and if that criminal is picked up in Ontario, it costs money to send that individual back. The councillor would like to see the system change so warrants are valid across the country.
It was the 2nd ride along with police Ruberto has done, noting other councillors have done it as well.
