Police Board 2 (1)The North Bay Police Service remains busy through the first two months of the 2016 calendar year.

Deputy Chief Scott Tod says there were 2133 calls for service in the month of February, an increase of 226 calls from last year.

He says this includes activity level from every facet of the force including inside police headquarters at their front desk to those out on patrol.

Tod says the goal is to find out how those numbers translate into crime related activity. He says “we want to be able to tell a story behind the statistics, rather than just being quantitative to what we’re providing but also knowing what makes it safer for the community to live in.”

Police recorded 39 assaults in the month, down from 45 the year before.

There were ten drug charges laid compared to seven in February 2015.

Tod adds it’s not the quantity but the quality of the drugs being taken off the street.

The Deputy Chief of Police says they have laid 22 drug charges to date this year.

He says in 2015 there was a decision made to refocus efforts more on trafficking and less on possession.

He says “looking at possession only is not the way to go, but looking at people who are trafficking or selling drugs and bringing them into North Bay.”

Tod says the street crime unit and the patrol officers play an important role.

He says they interact with the public to learn what is going on in the community, as well as identifying who has illegal drugs on them and follow up.

Tod says they want to target hardened traffickers within North Bay.

In the monthly crime stats report police also investigated 146 motor vehicle accidents, with 17 people injured in 16 of the cases.