Stress can make people do peculiar things.
According to Barrie police officials, over the past week they’ve received calls over grocery lines and toilet paper, but a more nefarious type of incident such as domestic violence could also be seeing an uptick due to COVID-19 pandemic stress.
“We received one call last week from a person who had waited in line to pay for groceries for a couple of hours and when they got to the front, the cashier closed the check out,” said Peter Leon, communications co-ordinator with the Barrie police. “It’s not really a police matter and they shouldn’t be tying up the line, but I think it shows the level of frustration that some people were under at the outset of this.”
There have also been a few calls over what Leon refers to as “the toilet-paper issue.”
“It just shows how people are responding and reacting to the circumstances. They feel they have to do something,” said Leon.
Southern Georgian Bay OPP Const. David Hobson said the force's communications centre is experiencing normal call volumes and hasn't had any unusual calls related to the current crisis.
Between Jan. 1, 2019 and March 17, 2019, Leon said Barrie police dealt with 327 calls for service.
This year during the same period, they saw 304 calls.
“Since Thursday (Mar. 12), we’ve had 14 calls for service for domestic issues,” he said. “I think, with this type of crisis, unfortunately it creates unique challenges for people in relationships. In some cases, it may cause people to report issues that have been ongoing long before this even happened.”
Teresa MacLennan, executive director of the Women and Children’s Shelter of Barrie, says anytime people are together in close quarters for long periods of time, such as Christmas, March Break and now more people staying home due to the COVID-19 pandemic, these situations can lead to stressors.
“They might be great times, but they can also be stressful times,” she said. “At any time of stress in the community or in people’s (personal) lives, violence can be increased for women.”
“We are seeing increased calls of women needing help because the situation at home is escalating,” she said, adding that annually the shelter turns away about 500 women because they are at capacity.
This week, MacLennan said the shelter put out a call to the community for certain supply donations as they were unable to obtain items they needed with grocery stores being out of stock.
While MacLennan said the community has already been very generous, there is one item they are still struggling to find.
“The only thing we have been unable to secure is hand sanitizer,” she said, adding that helpful supporters have sent in suggestions on how to make it from regular household items. “We’re really appreciative of the support that’s come in from the community.”
MacLennan said there are things people can do to help alleviate the stress that may lead to potential violence in the home.
“Check on your neighbours. Have conversations and make sure people are OK. If you can, in stressful situations, do what you can to relieve that stress,” she said.
With the province announcing an official state of emergency on Tuesday morning, Leon says the Barrie police are well-prepared to keep people safe including extensive emergency protocols, so for them, the situation is business as usual.
“We have plans in place to deal with these types of situations,” said Leon. “We run through exercises on a regular basis to keep our officers sharp in the event of curves in the road.”
“Personal safety will always be paramount,” he added.
