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SSM Police. – Intimate Partner Violence Policy Evaluation

The Sault Ste. Marie Police Service continues to evaluate Intimate Partner Violence (IPV) and how we can best serve and support victims in our community.

Through the ongoing review of the four homicides in the fall of 2023, we have identified areas in which Chief Stevenson and Senior Command can better support our members who are responding to emergency calls.

Sault Police have thoroughly reviewed all 911 calls from the victims in this incident. The day before the homicides, the deceased adult victim phoned police during a verbal argument with Bobbie Hallaert. During this call, the victim mentioned to the 911 Communicator that she had a physical altercation roughly two weeks prior with Hallaert.

This information was not relayed to the responding officer. The responding officer did speak with the victim multiple times that day and did ask if there had ever been current or historical physical abuse. The officer did not receive that information and did not have reasonable and probable grounds to make an arrest. The victims’ next of kin have been notified of the results of Sault Police’s evaluation of the calls.

“I have a responsibility to this community and to our members to provide the best tools, training, and complement of staff to support victims and ensure public safety, says Chief Hugh Stevenson. “I, along with our senior leaders, will continue to explore all options to enhance the level of service we deliver.”

As the review of IPV related processes continues, some areas of focus will be:

  • Updating our IPV policy and our Communications and Dispatch policy.
  • Enhanced training for all Central Emergency Reporting Bureau (CERB), aka dispatch, members.
  • Routinely review calls for service to ensure high quality of professionalism, empathy, and decision making.
  • Launch of a pilot project to follow-up on all IPV related calls that do not result in charges. This includes calls which are verbal arguments only, as well as when officers attend to ensure the exchange of property in an IPV incident is peaceful.

“I am a strong believer in the notion there is always room to improve,” adds Chief Stevenson. “It’s crucial we share the results of this review and the areas of improvement we identify. We will continue to lead by example to ensure the public’s trust in their police service.”

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