Recent funding investments by the Police Services Board and the City of St. Thomas “are producing tangible results in reducing crime and social disorder” in the community.That’s according to information provided to the board for the July meeting by St. Thomas Police Chief Marc Roskamp.
His board report cautions, however, “It is essential that future budgets reflect the operational requirements of our police services and support a responsible path forward.”
The concern is what impact a growing population and overcoming the residual effects of several years of fiscal restraint and conservative budgeting encouraged by the city will have on the 2026 police service budget.
The St. Thomas Police Service is certainly operating in lean fashion when compared to similar-sized police departments, particularly when you look at the cost per capita of delivering services.
The closest comparable service is in Woodstock, with a population very close to St. Thomas.
That city has a complement of 103 police officers versus 81 in St. Thomas (using 2024 figures).
The 2024 policing budget in Woodstock was just under $21 million compared to $15.8 million here.
The per capita cost of providing police service in Woodstock is $451.In St. Thomas, that figure is $350.
More on the potential impact on next year’s budget later in this item.
Recently released Crime Severity Index (CSI) values indicate that overall crime severity is down 17.57 per cent in St. Thomas from 2022 to 2024.
By comparison, the overall provincial CSI value is up just over 3 per cent.
Looking at non-violent CSI values, St. Thomas numbers declined significantly by almost 32 per cent.
The concern, however, according to Roskamp, is an increase in violent CSI values by 22 per cent from 2022 to 2024, compared to a 3.2 per cent increase across the province.
This is in contrast to neighbouring Woodstock, where violent CSI values dropped by 21 per cent over that same time period.
For the violent CSI values, the contributing factors are robbery, sexual assault, assault and uttering threats.
Roskamp observed, “Our overall progress is very encouraging, yet violent crime remains an area that will continue to receive targeted and sustained response by our officers.”
He continued, “Our immediate path forward continues to be an enhancement of intelligence-led policing strategies, frontline coordinated responses, deepening community partnerships, advocating for meaningful justice system reforms, and ensuring timely intervention of high-risk individuals and situations.”
As reported earlier this year, St. Thomas Police have faced an unprecedented increase in service calls, combined with the severity of those calls.
“Addressing root causes such as mental health, addiction, and housing insecurity requires a coordinated approach, not just increased police resources.”
And with the rapid growth of St. Thomas over the next two decades – accompanied by more density and more diversity in need – the demand on emergency services and community safety systems will inevitably increase.
There will be added pressure on housing, mental health services, youth supports and the justice system.
Chief Roskamp points out, “These shifts are often accompanied by increases in certain types of crime, particularly crimes of opportunity and social disorder, but also more concerning trends in violent incidents and repeat offending.”
These social pressures will invariably manifest themselves as the Police Services Board prepares the 2026 budget.
If you remember, the 2025 police budget saw an increase of just under 12 per cent over the previous year.
As board chair Dan Reith stressed in an interview with this corner in October of last year, “It’s oxymoronic to think you can have growth without expense under public safety.”
And so, a potentially significant increase to the police budget next year should not come as a surprise.
As Chief Roskamp has noted, “Our police service is committed to adapting to these realities with intelligence-led enforcement, cross-sector partnerships, and a firm belief that community safety is best achieved when public policy, policing and social services work in alignment.
“Addressing root causes such as mental health, addiction, and housing insecurity requires a coordinated approach, not just increased police resources.
“We must remain focused and committed to supporting these areas to preserve the gains we’ve achieved and ensure long-term safety for all residents.”
Returning to Reith’s observation from last year, during the upcoming budget deliberations, all parties must not lose sight of the fact that sustainable public safety will require both human and financial investments.
Related post:
WILL THE INN REMAIN A LONG-TERM FIXTURE?
The city’s emergency shelter was the subject of attention at the July meeting of city council, with Coun. Earl Taylor’s unsuccessful bid to move the facility out of the downtown core.
He contends that the number of homeless individuals is, in fact, increasing and not decreasing.
That would seem to be supported by statistics contained in a report to council for Tuesday’s (Sept. 2) meeting.
The St. Thomas-Elgin 10-Year Housing and Homelessness Plan 2024 Progress Report includes a statistical summary of The INN.
The report notes, “Throughout 2024, the emergency shelter provided support for people experiencing homelessness 24/7. 265 unique people were served at The INN, which represents an increase of 38 individuals from the previous year.”The report goes on to note, “Efforts to expand services to meet the increasing needs continued throughout the year.”
The total number of bed nights (the total number of individuals times the length of their stay) was 15,825.
There is an upside in that the average stay was 43 nights, which is down from 62 nights in 2023.
Here is a further breakdown of the data:
➢ 32% of guests identified as women, 65% of guests identified as men and 3% of guests identified as non-binary or other gender identities.
➢ 11% of shelter guests identified as Indigenous.
➢ 9% of guests were youth (ages 16 to 24), an increase of 2% from the previous year.
➢ 43% of guests stayed 10 nights or less.
It is worth noting the vision statement at the beginning of the report.
“St. Thomas-Elgin recognizes the importance of having affordable, adequate and appropriate housing for its residents. In co-operation with not-for-profit and private-sector partners in the community, and with support from federal and provincial levels of governments, St. Thomas-Elgin will work towards meeting the housing and support needs of the community, with the elimination of long-term homelessness as a key goal.”
Are we to assume short-term homelessness will continue to be at play in the community, and thus the need to maintain The INN as an emergency shelter?
DRUG AWARENESS THROUGH THE STORY OF A POSTER GUY
International Overdose Awareness Day will be recognized tomorrow (Aug. 31)
The day is meant to honour the lives lost to overdose, support families and friends who are grieving, and encourage action to prevent more deaths.
This year’s theme is “One big family, driven by hope.”
Three years ago, almost to the day, we presented Mathew’s story in this corner.
To set the scene, a ceremony had been held at city hall in St. Thomas to commemorate the third annual International Overdose Awareness Day.
Later in the day, The Nameless (a community-based, peer-led, harm-reduction group of volunteers who are proactive boots on the ground), in partnership with Southwestern Public Health, held an open house at White Street Parkette in St. Thomas.
That was where Anna Maria Iredale of St. Marys dug deep into her reserve of fortitude to step forward with her personal tale of tragedy.
We’re documenting it in its entirety as a tribute to Anna Maria and her son.
That’s a photo of him below, and every picture does tell a story. This one is well worth the time and effort it takes to absorb. And here it is in its entirety.
“I’m Anna, and I lost my wonderful son Mathew to fentanyl on Sept 8, 2017. After many years of fighting and failing to get to sobriety, Mathew finally succeeded and was living in recovery.
“He finally got to where he wanted to be in his life, substance-free, happy, healthy, strong, and an amazing man. My heart burst with so much pride when I saw how far he had come. I finally got to know him as the man he was meant to be. What he nor I was prepared for was a relapse.
“My son relapsed the night we told him his stepbrother and his younger cousin passed away. Mathew struggled every day with his addiction for that following year.“I honestly thought that he could recover – he did before when he fell down, he would again, I told myself.
“He had his own bricklaying company and made more money than I could dream of. He had joined a church, got baptized, was involved in the youth group and had many good friends at the church, including the pastor and minister.
Mathew worked out at the gym and brought his friends from his NA group to the gym and his church. He was happy. I just knew he would get back to all that great life again. I was wrong.
“His last gift to mankind was to let someone else live.”
“On Sept 2, 2017, sitting in an Irish pub eating his supper, he collapsed. They were able to bring him around, but he aspirated his entire meal into his lungs. I was called the next day, on the morning of Sept 3, which was my stepson’s one-year angelversary – and told that my son was in a coma in Oshawa.
“We rushed to the hospital, and I held my son’s hand for six days. A ventilator was hooked up and started breathing for him because Mathew had taken the time to sign up online to be an organ donor.
“Again, my heart burst with pride. I didn’t know this! He was always thinking of someone else. His last gift to mankind was to let someone else live.
“A man got Mathew’s liver because of that and got a longer life.
“About a year later, I was so blessed to have a lady I didn’t know contact me, and she told me about Moms Stop The Harm (a network of Canadian families impacted by substance-use-related harms and deaths).
“I joined this amazing online group and found understanding and compassion, and learned a lot about addiction.“Even more surprising was, as I learned, my views changed. I now advocate for International Overdose Awareness Day and try to spread awareness about it, in hopes of seeing the number of people dying from substance use come to an end.
“People are joining MSTH daily now. If other countries can cut the number of deaths, I have no doubt that Canada can too!
“Portugal has already been successful in doing this. We should be ripping a page from their book.
“We need people to realize that addiction is a disease and people are not defined by their diseases at all.
“When we sit in judgment of someone, we are not defining them, we are, in fact, defining ourselves – and not in a very good way either.
“I’m not ashamed of how my son died. I’m appalled by those who decide who is worthy to live or not.
“There are a lot of people in our society who have substance use disorders.
“This could be alcohol, pharmaceuticals or street drugs. Many of these people would never be able to even be recognizable, as they are not all automatically thieves or homeless or sickly looking or bad people.
“Some hold respectable jobs and have incredible careers. It’s not unheard of for professionals needing to use safe consumption sites.
“Remember, addiction is a disease! No one wants this disease, and no one knows if they have it until they try it.”
“Today is International Overdose Awareness Day, and many towns and cities acknowledge this day due to the extremely large numbers of people who are dying.
“Stigma and judgment cause people with substance use disorders to feel ashamed for something that is out of their control. It truly is a disease and not a disease anyone wants.
“Worst of all, stigma prevents people from seeking the help they need. Kindness, connection and compassion can change a person’s life and save a family from a tragic loss.
“Prohibition was a perfect example of how trying to take away something that is dangerous (alcohol) turned out. People who had addictions just made their own. People made it, sold it and drank it. Many died due to alcohol poisoning.
“Everyone noticed that the beer stores and liquor stores had to stay open during COVID. Had they closed, the death toll would have gone up. People would have been making their own alcohol, and that can be extremely poisonous.
“A safe and regulated supply is about having safe substances available instead of people needing to buy street drugs.
“And, as an FYI, these would not be handed out for free. Our street drugs are contaminated with fentanyl and carfentanyl, and that is killing people every day in our country. Over 29,052 have died from January 2016 to December 2021.
“Safe consumption sites are necessary now in order to make sure that someone who has to use can do so safely.
“Remember, addiction is a disease! No one wants this disease, and no one knows if they have it until they try it. Sort of like Russian roulette, I’d say.
“People are addicted to drugs, alcohol, gambling, food, risky sex, tobacco, gaming and mobile devices for many different reasons.“Quite often, it is the result of trauma or emotional pain of some type. And there is sadly, not a lot of help for mental health these days with all the cutbacks.
“We need to have trauma counselling available for these people who suffer from a substance use disorder and for their families.
“So, I ask people to show a little compassion and kindness. It all boils down to the golden rule.
“Ask yourself, if this person were me, how would I want to be treated?
“Do unto others as you would want done to you.
“I speak in honour of my son and all those who have died due to drug-related harm.
“May you all Rest In Peace.”
When forwarding photos of Mathew our way, Anna closed out her email with the following observation.
“I always thought if Mathew ever wanted to get into modelling, he probably could have, but never thought he’d become a poster guy to not use drugs.”
THE ECHO CHAMBER
An enthusiastic response from reader Jeff Wedlake on last week’s PowerCo announcement. The capital letters are visible proof of how he really feels about the news.
“Absolutely a positive game-changer for the AMAZING City of St. Thomas!! WE’VE HIT THE BIG LEAGUES NOW!!”
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