THUNDER BAY -- Bootlegging has a long history in Thunder Bay, and has proven to be a frustrating problem for both residents and police to deal with over the years.
The issue of illegal alcohol sales re-surfaced at a recent McKellar ward meeting called by Councillor Paul Pugh.
Pugh says some residents were looking for help because of a bootlegger operating in the north downtown area. They were upset because this has brought increased noise and break-ins in the proximity.
"Bootlegging has been around for a long time, however it doesn't matter whether it's new or old, it's still an issue in itself and there's this subsidiary issue of bothering the residents who are neighbouring the operation," Pugh said in an interview with tbnewswatch.com.
Pugh promised to raise the matter with police, something the residents have done previously.
"Well, it's not that police haven't been there, but they were seeking more of a police presence. It's not up to me, it's a matter for the police force itself to determine how their resources are allocated. They have many issues to deal with," he said.
The McKellar ward councillor said he's still advising residents to report bootlegging activity to police.
"Whether they can do as much as the rest of us want, that's another issue. But if people don't report anti-social behaviour, nothing will get done, that's for sure."
Thunder Bay Police spokesperson Chris Adams calls the bootlegging issue a "challenging" and "multi-layered" one.
Adams said police receive sporadic complaints from neighbourhoods, and on occasion their investigations may lead to the execution of a search warrant on a residence.
He said he was unsure if there were any recent cases in which charges had been laid, as he had not had an opportunity to do a search of police records.
Adams noted that investigating officers have to be able to prove that illegal alcohol sales are in fact being conducted on a premises
He echoed Pugh's advice that residents should report suspicious activity, but added that it's important they provide as accurate information as possible.
"If they're seeing ongoing activity, being able to quantify it, what time of day, what time of night, the nature of it."
Adams stressed that citizens need to be patient, and understand that "not every instance is that easy to go and investigate and carry forward right through to charging someone."
Enforcement often becomes a resource issue, he said.
"It's upsetting to people when they see activity that they believe is criminal, but it can take a lot of police resources to investigate and bring charges. It's not that we won't do it, but in the day-to-day patrolling and other enforcement strategies, we have a limited number of people" available to do all this work.
