A
AlvinofDiaspar
Guest
From the Globe:
Toronto proves adept at curbing gun violence
Shooting incidents decline nearly 20%
TIMOTHY APPLEBY AND UNNATI GANDHI
TORONTO -- The explosion of gun violence that convulsed Toronto last year, as the rest of the country looked on aghast, appears to have been checked by an aggressive package of police tactics that was three years in the making.
After a small army of officers descended on the tough-as-nails Jamestown housing project in the city's northwest corner in May, scooping up scores of alleged gang members and associates, Police Chief Bill Blair warned that there could be no cure-all to the plague of shootings that killed a record 58 people under intense media glare in 2005.
Six months later, he remains wary about waving victory flags.
"There is no simple, quick fix," Chief Blair said yesterday. "There are social, cultural, economic and demographic conditions that give rise to this violence, and I can't undo those things."
Maybe not. But something seems to be working
As of Thursday, police were aware of 176 shooting incidents this year citywide, compared with 218 in the same 10-month period in 2005, a decline of more than 19 per cent.
In that same time frame, 236 people were wounded by firearms, a 21-per-cent drop from the 2005 figure of 300.
More guns were taken off the streets, too: 2,048 in 2006, versus 1,927 at the same time last year, a 6-per-cent increase.
But the most dramatic tilt is in the gun-homicide tally.
When 23-year-old Michael Linton died of his injuries yesterday morning, a week after he was shot in the downtown club district, the year's homicide total rose to 59, compared with 65 on Nov. 3, 2005.
And among those 59 homicides, death came from the barrel of a gun just 25 times, compared with the 45 times recorded by this time last year -- a 44-per-cent reduction.
Moreover, the homicide squad's clearance rate -- denoting an arrest or compelling evidence pointing to a suspect -- is on an upswing.
Accompanying last year's 78 homicides, 52 of which involved guns, was a dismal 53-per-cent clearance rate, compared with 86 per cent in 1993. In 2006, the rate stands at 63 per cent.
In sharp contrast to what's happening in other major Canadian cities, a blend of strategies targeting violent offenders has put a sizable dent in the havoc wrought by Toronto's guns and gangs.
In part that's because of a modest but perceptible new willingness for witnesses to step forward, says Staff Inspector Brian Raybould, who heads the homicide squad.
"People have to have confidence that they have some kind of protection, that the cops are going to stand up for them, and I think that's what they're sensing," he said.
"The environment is a whole lot less scary than it was two or three years ago; that's what people are telling us."
As to why, the May raid on the Jamestown Crips and other anti-gang sweeps, notably in east-end Scarborough, tell some of the story.
A grimy, low-income residential complex in Rexdale, Jamestown is in 23 Division, which at this time last year had recorded 10 homicides, all believed gang-related.
In 2006, there has been just one, a domestic incident.
"We're just delighted, ecstatic really," said Inspector Kimberly Greenwood of 23 Division.
Launched three years ago by Chief Blair when he headed the force's detectives division, the anti-gang drives have been augmented by putting an additional 450 uniformed officers on the street. Sixty new prosecutors, many specializing in organized crime, have also been hired in Toronto.
Add to that the force's Toronto Anti-Violence Intervention Strategy, which in January created three 18-officer rapid-deployment teams that blanket high-risk neighbourhoods, stopping and questioning people.
Enforcing court-ordered bail restrictions, commonly by paying unexpected visits, is a big part of the TAVIS approach. Since Feb. 1, those teams have arrested close to 5,000 people and seized almost 300 guns in raids that Chief Blair likens to the cavalry coming over the hill.
"We'll make more arrests this year than in any year in the history of the Toronto Police Service.
"The arrests are focused on people we know to be violent; that's where the emphasis is. We know who the risky people are and they get our undivided attention. They wake up in the morning, they walk out the door and the police are there. And we'll be there at night to make sure they're obeying their conditions."
But equally important, in his view, are the close to 30,000 informal contacts made with businesses and householders, knocking holes in the "wall of silence" that still bedevils many police investigations.
None of this comes cheaply. The police budget this year was a record $794-million, more than 10 per cent of the entire city budget.
Among those being served and protected, moreover, any enhanced sense of security goes only so far.
Sitting in the food court of the Albion Centre in the heart of Jamestown yesterday, 30-year-old Bahea Hailegeorgis said she still worries about the neighbourhood in which she is raising her two children. Things have improved, but plenty of intimidating toughs still hang around the nearby Price Choppers plaza.
"I don't like to go there; you see them during the day and during the night. They're always there."
She would like to see more police, but unless and until she does, she knows which areas to stay away from.
Bashir Sairwi, a 40-year-old father of two, says he sees police responding quickly to calls, which pleases him. "No problems. My wife walks to Food Basics alone at night, no problems," he said.
For all the apparent success, there are critics who see the Toronto strategy as excessive.
Long-time criminal lawyer Edward Sapiano is no fan of illegal guns. Last year, he helped pilot a lawyer-organized mini amnesty for guns, facilitating the anonymous surrender of firearms.
But he thinks the TAVIS approach is heavy-handed.
"What I hear from the street is that there seems to be an unofficial policy that compromises constitutional rights in certain neighbourhoods, to find guns," he said.
"Cars are being pulled over, people are being stopped, the smallest of incidents are being used for the purpose of searching people in homes, and fabrications in terms of reasonable and probable grounds.
"It's clearly a response to the [2005] summer of guns. But we can't lose sight of the larger picture, which is that we are a free, democratic society. And in many of these [targeted] neighbourhoods that label is no longer appropriate at certain hours of the day, particularly if you are of a certain colour and age, with a certain style of clothing.
"A balance has to be achieved and that balance doesn't really exist at 3 o'clock in the morning in Jamestown."
Staff Inspector Joe Tomei, who heads the force's organized-crime operations, which encompass the gun-and-gangs task force, estimates there are still about 70 identifiable gangs in the city and he offers no apologies. "This is all about the safety and quality of life," he said.
"I'm very cautious because things could erupt at any time, but I think we're getting a good handle on things. We've put a lot of people in jail. The challenge is to keep the younger kids from filling their shoes."
Guns on the run?
Toronto police statistics show a dramatic decline in gun crimes in the first 10 months of 2006 compared to the same time in 2005.
Homicides
2005 - 65, 45 killed by guns
2006 - 59, 25 killed by guns
Shootings
2005 - 218
2006 - 176
Shooting Victims
2005 - 300
2006 - 236
Firearms seized
2005 - 1,927
2006 - 2,048
SOURCE: TORONTO POLICE SERVICE
SOURCE: THE TORONTO POLICE SERVICE RENEE RUZYLO/ THE GLOBE AND MAIL
_________________________________________________
I can't wait to see Jane Pitfield talk about this one.
AoD
Toronto proves adept at curbing gun violence
Shooting incidents decline nearly 20%
TIMOTHY APPLEBY AND UNNATI GANDHI
TORONTO -- The explosion of gun violence that convulsed Toronto last year, as the rest of the country looked on aghast, appears to have been checked by an aggressive package of police tactics that was three years in the making.
After a small army of officers descended on the tough-as-nails Jamestown housing project in the city's northwest corner in May, scooping up scores of alleged gang members and associates, Police Chief Bill Blair warned that there could be no cure-all to the plague of shootings that killed a record 58 people under intense media glare in 2005.
Six months later, he remains wary about waving victory flags.
"There is no simple, quick fix," Chief Blair said yesterday. "There are social, cultural, economic and demographic conditions that give rise to this violence, and I can't undo those things."
Maybe not. But something seems to be working
As of Thursday, police were aware of 176 shooting incidents this year citywide, compared with 218 in the same 10-month period in 2005, a decline of more than 19 per cent.
In that same time frame, 236 people were wounded by firearms, a 21-per-cent drop from the 2005 figure of 300.
More guns were taken off the streets, too: 2,048 in 2006, versus 1,927 at the same time last year, a 6-per-cent increase.
But the most dramatic tilt is in the gun-homicide tally.
When 23-year-old Michael Linton died of his injuries yesterday morning, a week after he was shot in the downtown club district, the year's homicide total rose to 59, compared with 65 on Nov. 3, 2005.
And among those 59 homicides, death came from the barrel of a gun just 25 times, compared with the 45 times recorded by this time last year -- a 44-per-cent reduction.
Moreover, the homicide squad's clearance rate -- denoting an arrest or compelling evidence pointing to a suspect -- is on an upswing.
Accompanying last year's 78 homicides, 52 of which involved guns, was a dismal 53-per-cent clearance rate, compared with 86 per cent in 1993. In 2006, the rate stands at 63 per cent.
In sharp contrast to what's happening in other major Canadian cities, a blend of strategies targeting violent offenders has put a sizable dent in the havoc wrought by Toronto's guns and gangs.
In part that's because of a modest but perceptible new willingness for witnesses to step forward, says Staff Inspector Brian Raybould, who heads the homicide squad.
"People have to have confidence that they have some kind of protection, that the cops are going to stand up for them, and I think that's what they're sensing," he said.
"The environment is a whole lot less scary than it was two or three years ago; that's what people are telling us."
As to why, the May raid on the Jamestown Crips and other anti-gang sweeps, notably in east-end Scarborough, tell some of the story.
A grimy, low-income residential complex in Rexdale, Jamestown is in 23 Division, which at this time last year had recorded 10 homicides, all believed gang-related.
In 2006, there has been just one, a domestic incident.
"We're just delighted, ecstatic really," said Inspector Kimberly Greenwood of 23 Division.
Launched three years ago by Chief Blair when he headed the force's detectives division, the anti-gang drives have been augmented by putting an additional 450 uniformed officers on the street. Sixty new prosecutors, many specializing in organized crime, have also been hired in Toronto.
Add to that the force's Toronto Anti-Violence Intervention Strategy, which in January created three 18-officer rapid-deployment teams that blanket high-risk neighbourhoods, stopping and questioning people.
Enforcing court-ordered bail restrictions, commonly by paying unexpected visits, is a big part of the TAVIS approach. Since Feb. 1, those teams have arrested close to 5,000 people and seized almost 300 guns in raids that Chief Blair likens to the cavalry coming over the hill.
"We'll make more arrests this year than in any year in the history of the Toronto Police Service.
"The arrests are focused on people we know to be violent; that's where the emphasis is. We know who the risky people are and they get our undivided attention. They wake up in the morning, they walk out the door and the police are there. And we'll be there at night to make sure they're obeying their conditions."
But equally important, in his view, are the close to 30,000 informal contacts made with businesses and householders, knocking holes in the "wall of silence" that still bedevils many police investigations.
None of this comes cheaply. The police budget this year was a record $794-million, more than 10 per cent of the entire city budget.
Among those being served and protected, moreover, any enhanced sense of security goes only so far.
Sitting in the food court of the Albion Centre in the heart of Jamestown yesterday, 30-year-old Bahea Hailegeorgis said she still worries about the neighbourhood in which she is raising her two children. Things have improved, but plenty of intimidating toughs still hang around the nearby Price Choppers plaza.
"I don't like to go there; you see them during the day and during the night. They're always there."
She would like to see more police, but unless and until she does, she knows which areas to stay away from.
Bashir Sairwi, a 40-year-old father of two, says he sees police responding quickly to calls, which pleases him. "No problems. My wife walks to Food Basics alone at night, no problems," he said.
For all the apparent success, there are critics who see the Toronto strategy as excessive.
Long-time criminal lawyer Edward Sapiano is no fan of illegal guns. Last year, he helped pilot a lawyer-organized mini amnesty for guns, facilitating the anonymous surrender of firearms.
But he thinks the TAVIS approach is heavy-handed.
"What I hear from the street is that there seems to be an unofficial policy that compromises constitutional rights in certain neighbourhoods, to find guns," he said.
"Cars are being pulled over, people are being stopped, the smallest of incidents are being used for the purpose of searching people in homes, and fabrications in terms of reasonable and probable grounds.
"It's clearly a response to the [2005] summer of guns. But we can't lose sight of the larger picture, which is that we are a free, democratic society. And in many of these [targeted] neighbourhoods that label is no longer appropriate at certain hours of the day, particularly if you are of a certain colour and age, with a certain style of clothing.
"A balance has to be achieved and that balance doesn't really exist at 3 o'clock in the morning in Jamestown."
Staff Inspector Joe Tomei, who heads the force's organized-crime operations, which encompass the gun-and-gangs task force, estimates there are still about 70 identifiable gangs in the city and he offers no apologies. "This is all about the safety and quality of life," he said.
"I'm very cautious because things could erupt at any time, but I think we're getting a good handle on things. We've put a lot of people in jail. The challenge is to keep the younger kids from filling their shoes."
Guns on the run?
Toronto police statistics show a dramatic decline in gun crimes in the first 10 months of 2006 compared to the same time in 2005.
Homicides
2005 - 65, 45 killed by guns
2006 - 59, 25 killed by guns
Shootings
2005 - 218
2006 - 176
Shooting Victims
2005 - 300
2006 - 236
Firearms seized
2005 - 1,927
2006 - 2,048
SOURCE: TORONTO POLICE SERVICE
SOURCE: THE TORONTO POLICE SERVICE RENEE RUZYLO/ THE GLOBE AND MAIL
_________________________________________________
I can't wait to see Jane Pitfield talk about this one.
AoD