Stratford police report on a busy summer in St. Marys

Frauds still impacting local residents

By Galen Simmons, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter

After a two-month summer break, the St. Marys community police advisory committee held its September meeting last week, during which the Stratford Police Service presented its monthly crime statistics for St. Marys from June, July and August.

Police Chief Greg Skinner guided committee members through each month’s statistics, touching briefly on points of interest raised. Reports of fraud, of which there were five in June, six in July and three in August, were a particular point of interest for members.

“In reviewing the frauds, we’ve had some significant losses by people in St. Marys,” Skinner said. “So, I think there needs to be some more public education around protecting oneself and one’s information on the internet. We had one individual who has lost millions and that is really tough to see when you have somebody who is in the twilight of their life and their life savings is being stolen from them.

“That investigation is still underway. Any amount is terrible, but when I see that kind of amount, that is extremely worrisome.”

Skinner said the man who lost millions to fraudsters fell victim to an online scam involving crypto currency. Stratford police are planning another public education session about how seniors can protect themselves from fraud, both online and over the phone, at the Pyramid Recreation Centre next month.

In June, police responded to a total of 213 calls for service in St. Marys, which rose to 220 in July and fell drastically to 161 in August. Police laid a total of 53 charges in St. Marys in June, 60 in July and just 48 in August.

In June, police responded to eight calls related to mental health in St. Marys, including one attempted suicide, and responded to eight calls involving domestic violence, three of which resulted in charges. The following month, police responded to four calls related to mental health and seven calls involving domestic violence, with one domestic-related charge being laid. In August, the number of mental-health calls rose to six and the number of domestic calls rose to 10, with three domestic charges being laid.

St. Marys saw no reports of violent crime in either July or August, however one assault was reported to police in June. Police did not receive any calls related to drug or alcohol consumption in August, they responded to one call involving impairment by alcohol in July and two drug-related offences in June.

Across June, July and August, police responded to a total of 10 mischief calls, two thefts from motor vehicles and nine thefts under $5,000.

In St. Marys, police responded to seven motor-vehicle collisions in June – six involving property damage only and one resulting in personal injury. In July, the number of collisions rose to nine – eight involving property damage and one hit-and-run – and in August, police again responded to seven collisions – five involving property damage and two hit-and-runs.