FROM: Corporate Communications
DATE: April 10, 2025
SOUTH SIMCOE POLICE SERVICE CLARIFIES CALLS FOR SERVICE DATA COLLECTION
(INNISFIL, ON) – In January 2025, the South Simcoe Police Service publicly reported an uncharacteristic spike in calls for service. In February 2025, after the numbers prompted a more in-depth review into the January call data, the service became aware that there were errors in the calls for service data reported. This realization prompted a comprehensive evaluation and analysis into previous years’ occurrence reporting numbers. As a result, the review uncovered issues with the calls for service data reporting dating back to late 2022.
BACKGROUND
In late 2022, the service started a pilot project with electronic ticketing. This pilot continued into 2023, and the project was rolled out throughout the service in 2024. The service uses a software program to extract occurrence data from our records management system. It was discovered that a software filter had not been applied resulting in electronic ticketing occurrences being double counted.
Given this discovery, the re-analysis of the yearly calls for service identified the following findings:
- In 2024, there were a total of 28,534 occurrences instead of the 30,636 that was reported.
A difference of 2,102. - In 2023, there were a total of 28,196 occurrences instead of the 29,875 that was reported.
A difference of 1,679. - In 2022, there were a total of 24,690 occurrences instead of the 24,719 that was reported.
A difference of 29. - In January 2025, there were 2,778 occurrences instead of the 3,543 that was reported.
A difference of 779*.
*In January 2025, there was also an issue with 214 occurrences from another service being included in the reporting numbers, in addition to the double counted South Simcoe Police Service electronic tickets.
The issue with the service’s data affected our proactive occurrence data, inflating the amount of proactive enforcement that was reported. It did not impact the service’s reported reactive calls for service. As such, the reactive calls for service data remain accurate.
The service apologizes for any confusion this may have caused and wishes to assure the public that measures have been implemented to prevent similar issues from occurring again. We remain committed to transparency and accuracy in sharing information with the public, our stakeholders, and the communities we serve.
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