'A record-breaking year of incidents': St. Thomas Police Service exceeds 20K calls for service in 2023

The crest of the St. Thomas Police Service. (Source: St. Thomas Police Service/Facebook)

With six-and-a-half weeks left remaining in the year, St. Thomas police have already surpassed 20,000 calls for service, making it on track to be a “record-breaking” year.

According to a release from the St. Thomas Police Service, just before midnight on Nov. 12, the police service exceeded 20,000 calls for service in 2023.

The milestone was reached a full month earlier than in 2022, which represents an 11 per cent increase.

As of 9:30 a.m. on Wednesday, St. Thomas police have responded to 20,134 calls for service.

“At this pace, the St. Thomas Police Service is on track to experience a record-breaking year of incidents requiring a police response,” the release reads.

Here is a comparison for the total number of incidents recorded on Dec. 31 at 11:59 p.m. in the three previous years.

• 2022: 20,682 incidents
• 2021: 21,924 incidents
• 2020: 22,173 incidents

St. Thomas police said that due to the rise in incidents, there are “increased pressures” on all areas of the police service. Many of the incidents require hours of officer attention and follow up in later days, while not included in the stats are court appearances, focused patrols and community engagement.

With an increase in calls, the workload affects not just police officers, but “every member of the organization.”

“We are a team,” the release reads. “The St. Thomas Police Service remains committed to the safety and well being of our community as we respond to the significant increase in calls for service.”