It's been a busy year so far for St. Thomas police. So busy, the force is on track to break a record for the number of calls for service it has responded to.
Between April 1 and September 1, the police service was called about 10,825 incidents in the community. If that rate holds steady, St. Thomas police will close out 2019 with 20,000 reported incidents.
That is an increase of more than 1,154 incidents compared to last year. In 2018, St. Thomas police responded to a record-breaking 18,846 calls for service, a 24 per cent jump over 2017.
"Since April 1 not only has our general patrol unit been kept running, they were supplemented by members of the street crimes unit working nights and weekends in an effort to identify suspects, make arrests and decrease criminal activity throughout the city," police said in a statement.
Over the last five months, police in St. Thomas have issued 60 arrest warrants, made 1,060 arrests with 1,121 criminal charges laid, and issued 58 tickets for bicycles on sidewalks.
While the number of collisions involving injury has fallen from 61 last year to 23 this year, the number of tickets for traffic violations issued over the last nine months has risen to 2,849 from 2,334 in 2018. The number of collisions without injury is down to 186 so far this year, compared to 422 last year.
The police service has also responded to 993 mental health related incidents since January, down roughly 200 from 2018. The force credits a new collaboration with the Canadian Mental Health Association for the decrease.