THUNDER BAY – Crime – Thunder Bay Police faced off against a lot of calls over the weekend. Over the past seventy two hours, police responded to hundreds of calls. Topping the list were ‘Quality of Life’ calls. with liquor offences representing the greatest number of calls for service. Police also responded to a flurry of weapons calls, assaults, sexual assaults, and other crimes.
Police are investigating the discovery of human remains as well on the Northside of the city between the Thunder Bay Regional Health Sciences Centre and the Riverside Cemetery. The area was the scope of a search last fall for a missing person. Police have not issued any further information yet.
Police have made an arrest in a scary incident over the weekend. Police have arrested a twenty-two year old and charged him with mischief after fishing line was strung across cycling paths at Boulevard Lake. The incident according to police was a prank being played by the twenty-two year old. Police have not released his name.
Thunder Bay Police Crime Face off
Over the course of time, almost half of the calls that Thunder Bay Police respond to are alcohol related. Enormous amounts of effort and tax dollars are being expended to deal with the problems related to alcohol.
The number of liquor offences, in many cases centred in the two downtown cores suggest there is a far greater need for more training and education from inspectors from the Ontario Alcohol and Gaming Commission. Police are doing what they can, but added support is needed to make the cores in both the north and south sides of Thunder Bay safer.
In the latest report from the AGCO there are no suspensions reported for all of Northwestern Ontario.
Considering that some establishments in Southern Ontario have had licences revoked for up to sixty days for what are fairly common violations, it is either very positive that all the licenced establishments in Northern Ontario are following all the rules, or that there are not enough inspections happening in the North.
In the downtown Fort William Business District, the streets demonstrate a need for more inspections. Beer bottles, broken glass, blood and building vandalism all point to possible issues with over-serving of alcohol. A Toronto night club was just assessed a thirty day licence suspension for “Permitted drunkenness; overcrowding; and a breach of condition of the establishment’s liquor licence”.
The AGCO is currently offering a series of free seminars for staff and management of licenced establishments across Ontario. However the closest the organization lists an event in Northern Ontario is Sault Ste Marie.
Crime Report Thunder Bay
