Stratford's Police Service's board were brought up to speed on some worrying statistics.
“Our mental health calls are up, our suicides and attempted suicides are up, our domestics are up - our domestic charges - are up, and our assaults are all up," Chief Greg Skinner said at Wednesday's board meeting.
Calls for service for police are up by 10 per cent this year compared to last, the chief noted.
Currently, there have been 724 mental health-related incidents in Stratford compared to last year, which had 605. There were 39 suicides or attempted suicides, up from 24 the year before.
Domestic-related occurrences rose sharply this year, to 562, from 468 in 2022.
Skinner told the board that the significant increases are likely a hangover from the COVID-19 pandemic and more information will be available through the year-end report presented in January.
Insp. Jason Clarke also provided the monthly stats for November, which covers the three municipalities covered by the local police service.
In November there were 1,492 calls for service and 320 charges laid in Stratford. There were 199 calls for service and 44 charges laid in St. Marys. There were 183 calls and 102 charges for service in Perth South.
Clarke also drew attention to the rise in break and enter calls. In November there were 13 break and enters in Stratford, a sharp jump from October’s four.
He said that this jump may be due to one individual, who has since been arrested and hit with 35 charges.
