Calls for service rise in LaSalle, mayor points to proactive policing

CTV News file photo.

The LaSalle Police Service’s 2025 Annual Report reveals an increase in calls for service, but the mayor says that increase is being driven by proactive policing, not just emergencies.

The full report was presented to council on Tuesday evening.

The report stated that LaSalle police handled more than 16,500 calls in 2025, up from just over 11,000 combined police and fire calls the year before.

Mayor Crystal Meloche, who also serves as chair of the LaSalle Police Services Board (LPSB), says officers are taking a more preventative approach.

“It’s definitely a higher volume of calls for service, but really, when you look at the numbers, it was an increase in proactive calls. So they did more to hopefully prevent having to do any official police business, let’s put it that way,” Meloche said.

She says that approach includes thousands of proactive checks and enforcement efforts across the community.

“There were 6,800 proactive calls, and I believe there was about 2,700 property checks, and then we did over 4,500 traffic enforcement actions,” she said.

“Then one other thing that really stands out from last year is that we conducted 70 ride programs in 2025 compared to five just a couple of years ago.”

Meloche adds there are still pressures on the service, especially when it comes to hiring.

“I think there’s pressures facing policing across the board. One of the biggest one for a lot of police services is recruiting,” she said.

“It’s hard to be able to recruit. We don’t get the same amount of resumes as we used to, and we’re also trying to look at times for some of our seasoned officers to be able to come into LaSalle police force so that you don’t have too young of a force.“

In total, police made 180 arrests and laid 352 charges throughout 2025.

Domestic disputes and violence accounted for 98 calls, with 41 charges laid, while property crimes such as shoplifting and theft under $5,000 remained among the most common offences.

Among the notable investigations in 2025:

• A historical sexual assault case dating back to 2015 that led to 18 charges after the victim came forward
• A series of suspicious fires that were later deemed arson, resulting in an arrest and four charges
• The identification of human remains found on Fighting Island through DNA analysis
• A hate crime investigation involving online threats that led to multiple charges and a jail sentence

The report also notes that policing costs reached about $10.7 million in 2025, roughly 3.6 percent over budget, largely due to staffing pressures, overtime, and increased demand on the service.