'Defunding police' through better use of resources: Thunder Bay police board discusses city bylaws

Nuisance and loitering bylaws in Thunder Bay are coming under the scrutiny of the northwestern Ontario city's council and now its police services board.

If the bylaw system "was more robust, perhaps better manned" it could "relieve some of the pressures on the police service," said Mayor Bill Mauro at the monthly meeting of the Thunder Bay Police Services Board, which was held online, on Tuesday.

The move to examine and debate the role and scope of city bylaws is welcomed by Sylvie Hauth, the Thunder Bay police chief, who said the current system is neither "effective or efficient."

"This speaks 100 per cent to the whole concept of what we call defunding police. We want to make sure as a community we are responding with the best resources to the matter at hand and not just throwing police, through a 911 call, to every call that comes in. Bylaw is one prime example that supports that. Let's use what we have, in a better way, to respond to those calls."

Hauth said because bylaw officers work mainly in the day, police often end up responding to those issues after hours.

Some calls not 'wise use of resources'

She cited the examples of "sending an officer or two officers at 2 a.m. for a dog that's barking because it's been left outside," with those officers then spending more time taking the dog to a shelter because its owners aren't home.

"I don't think that's a wise use of police resources," Hauth said.

Police must triage their calls for service, and act on the most serious ones first, especially if someone is in danger, she explained.

What she sees as one possible solution is allowing police to refer those issues back to bylaw "so that if we get a complaint at 3 a.m. we get bare bones information, and that information is passed back to bylaw for them to do the follow-up."

Bylaw changes could lead to better service

Dr. Kyle Landsdell, a member of the board, voiced his support for the possible changes, but stressed the importance of communicating the reasons for the changes, stating that the services is trying to build trust and relationships in the community.

"Something as trivial as a dog that's barking at 2 a.m., if it's perceived that concern is being ignored, I think it undermines that direction," he said.

Hauth agreed with his concerns, but suggested people might actually get better service through a stronger partnership between police and bylaw enforcement.

"When you have the right resources dealing with the matter, the service is a little bit more immediate," she said.

The police board approved a motion to request a report from city administration on the issue of reviewing nuisance and loitering bylaws and possibly broadening their scope.