The Chatham-Kent Police Services’ 2022 Administrative Support Branch presented at the monthly Police Board meeting on March 9 showed increased drug seizures but decreased weapons from the previous year.
The ASB is comprised of police staff and civilians assigned to various departments, including quartermaster/drug exhibits, firearms, property, informational technology, building and fleet logistics, record management, court services and the Emergency Communications Centre.
The report from Katie Quagliotto, Quartermaster/Drug Exhibit Coordinator, stated Chatham-Kent Police seized drugs on 544 occasions and drug paraphernalia in 130 incidents last year.
Methamphetamine represented 31% of the seizures, and fentanyl 23%, while processed marijuana made up 13%, and cocaine and crack cocaine a combined 10%.
In 2021, police had 506 incidents of drugs and 136 drug paraphernalia seizures, while meth accounted for 29%, fentanyl 25%, processed marijuana 14% and cocaine 9%.
Police also seized and disposed of prescription drugs in 76 incidents.
Constable Dwayne June, the designated Firearms Examiner, conducted 17 major firearms investigations as the CKPS processed 373 exhibits of firearms, ammunition and other weapons.
Among the seizures were 106 non-restricted rifles and shotguns, 58 pellet rifles, pistols and replica firearms, 21 restricted handguns, 13 knives and prohibited items and five crossbows.
There were also 159 ammunition exhibits from the seizures that consisted of various calibre and amounts.
Police conducted a firearms and ammunition destruction on October 14, where 528 firearms and knives, 310 pounds of ammunition and 32 canisters of pepper spray were destroyed.
The CKPS processed 454 firearms, weapons and ammunition exhibits in 2021 and 513 in 2020.
Meanwhile, CKPS officers assigned to the Chatham-Kent courthouses seized nearly double the number of weapons through screening in 2021.
The report stated 124 weapons – such as knives, steel bars and syringes – were seized in 2021, up from 67 in 2021.
Court officers seized 86 weapons in 2020 and 394 in 2019, as the reduced in-person court cases during the COVID-19 pandemic decreased seizures in the last three years.
The number of in-person prisoners processed is also reflective of the pandemic restrictions. There were 585 prisoners processed in 2022 compared to 709 in 2021 and 821 in 2020. Pre-pandemic years saw 2,238 prisoners processed in person in 2019 and 2,087 in 2018. The restrictions led to an increase in audio and video bail hearings, with 4,174 cases in 2022 compared to 2,386 in 2019 and 1,767 in 2018.
Property Coordinator Colleen Stonehouse reported 2,246 property items were seized, excluding firearms, drug exhibits or property returned to owners. Approximately 3,300 items were disposed of either by auction, returned to the owner, burned on location or sent as garbage.
The CKPS reported cases of intimate partner violence slipped slightly in 2022 with 1,788 occurrences, down from 1,839 in 2021 and its lowest since 2018, when there were 1,760 reported cases.
A total of 288 charges were laid in 2022, while 1,500 cases resulted in no charges. The breakdown showed 224 assault cases, including 52 with a weapon, seven sexual assaults, 305 breaches, 62 threats uttered and 47 mischief cases.
The Emergency Communications Centre reported a slight decrease, with 199,104 telephone calls received in 2022, down from 203,325 calls handled in 2021. The calls generated 64,328 computer-aided dispatch calls for police (57,192) and fire services, which includes EMS (7,136), down from 2021 for police (57,520) but up for fire/EMS (7,364).
The Derecho windstorm on May 22, and the blizzard of Dec. 23-24 created record-setting phone activity and responses.
