news-cops

Supplied by City Police…
The Sault Ste. Marie Police Service would like to advise the public about a change to the service hours of the Police Services Building.

Starting today, Monday May 29th, 2017 the front lobby of the Police Services Building will close between the hours of 11:00 p.m. and 7:00 a.m. Any member of the public who wishes to call the Police Service and speak to a duty officer during these hours will still be able to do so as normal.

Currently, the building is staffed 24 hours a day by a number of personnel including a duty officer who is assigned to the front desk.  The traditional function of this officer has been to greet the public and take initial reports from citizens.

This function will not change, however, in order to meet increasing demands for the safety of prisoners the duty officer will now additionally be assigned to live monitor the prisoners between the hours of 11:00 p.m. and 7:00 a.m.  In the past several months a number of prisoners that have been taken into custody were later found in distress due to suspected drug overdoses.

An internal review has found that a very minimal number of walk in calls for service happen between the hours of 11:00 p.m. and 7:00 a.m.  As such, the duty officer’s position will now be allocated to the cell area ensure the safety of prisoners during those hours.

It is important to note that the duty officer will still have the ability to take calls for service via telephone as normal.  In addition, any member of the public who needs to attend the front lobby of the police station for any reason during these hours will be able to speak to a staff member inside via a telephone hook-up at the front doors.

The Sault Ste. Marie Police Service is committed to providing a high level of service to the citizens of Sault Ste. Marie.  We do not expect this change to have a negative impact on our service delivery.  All calls for service that require an officer to attend a scene or emergency calls for service will not be affected by this change.