THUNDER BAY - A weekly program that publicizes individuals with outstanding warrants on social media has been a success according to Thunder Bay Police and will continue for the foreseeable future.
Wanted Wednesday, which began Feb. 1, sees the names and photos of four individuals with outstanding bench warrants shared on social media every week.
According to Sgt. Greg Stein, officer in charge of the community response team with Thunder Bay Police, since the program launched, more than 80 individuals have been featured and police have executed 121 warrants.
“That is a big thing that people need to understand,” Stein said. “There may be other warrants associated with that person that we are not allowed to advertise on the Wanted Wednesday program. It could be something like aggravated assault, theft over $5,000, any variety of warrant.”
Stein added that police have dealt with 51 per cent of the people who have been featured on Wanted Wednesday, with 45 per cent having been arrested. It was determined that the remainder were living outside of the city or in hospital and have been removed from the program.
The program has also served as a deterrent for those with outstanding warrants and don’t want to be featured on social media.
“We have had six people who have turned themselves in who have been on Wanted Wednesday,” Stein said. “But we have had an equal or more number who have turned themselves in who do not want to be part of the program. They have done the right thing and come and turned themselves in.”
For Stein, the program was created to help victims of crime who may not get the opportunity to see the accused stand before a court to answer to their charges.
“One of the mandates for police services in the province is to care for victims,” Stein said. “One of the things we can do to care for victims is to see that they get their justice and that means the accused person going to court.”
Stein recognizes that the program is not without controversy, but he strongly believes that the benefits outweigh the criticisms.
“There are people in the community who think we are bullying people,” Stein said. “We need to engage the public and any support we can get from them to assist us with information or having these people turn themselves in is a benefit for the police service and the community as a whole.”
“My big push for this is the victims,” Stein continued. “We seem to have people that have a big heart for the accused people, but I wonder where the big heart is for the victim.”
According to Stein, at any given time there are more than 1,700 warrants with Thunder Bay Police.
