Today Toronto Police Chief William Blair laid out the service's plans to increase the police presence in the city after a summer of gun violence. This action will take place during July, August and up to when the youth in the city go back to school.
In response to the recent gun violence in the city, the Service is about to roll out a summer safety initiative.
Beginning on August 6, a total of 320 officers will be assigned to communities most affected by the increased violence. The program ends on September 9.
“We are talking about increased capacity, more police officers, more boots on the ground,” said Deputy Chief Peter Sloly, who is in charge of Divisional Policing Command.
“These are real officers working in the most victimized areas…We will be working with our partners and helping those young kids to do their best and be their best. We are also realigning many of our support units on the same shift schedules to allow greater coordination and communication and there will be an increased number of officers to deal with the most high-risk offenders. For those people who commit violent crimes and the places where they commit them, our officers will be in greater numbers and in greater co-ordination.
“…On a daily basis, there will be continued pursuit of our high-risk offenders and continued engagement with our young people and community partners in those neighbourhoods in the most respectful and development-focussed ways possible. We are also using some new innovations, including mainstreaming social media into all of our operations, integrating our Divisional specialised assets in ways we have not done before and we are approaching this in a borderless way. Instead of one Division looking after its problems, we have erased the borders…The extra resources we have can be moved anywhere, anytime in the city.”
Sloly also said there will be an increased presence on transit routes to ensure gangs don’t use those avenues to commit crimes.
“This is about public safety,” he added.
“Reducing victimization, reducing fear, improving public safety, improving service and trust – it’s everyone’s responsibility.”
Additional resources are also going to be deployed during the annual Carnival weekend celebrations. A total of 456 officers will be on duty in the downtown core and 350 officers will work on the day of the parade on Lake Shore Blvd. They will be supported by intelligence and other units.
“Our intent is to assist the event and its organizers in holding a safe event,” Chief Bill Blair said.
“Our intent is not to over-police our communities. It’s simply to over-protect. We also want to send a very clear message to any individual or group who may choose to engage in violence that put themselves, others and their communities at risk that they will be relentlessly pursued.
“We recognize that our effort to keep our communities safe is always a partnership and a shared responsibility.”
The additional officers will be freed up through compulsory overtime as part of the normal 2012 operating budget. Two shifts, rather than three will cover divisional needs.
“We’re asking them to dig deep to do more and working longer hours to create safety in the community,” Chief Blair said, of the officers who will be working to create a safe summer.
Chief Blair said he would rather put money into preventing violence than investigating a homicide, estimating the cost of this deployment to be over $2 million.
Representatives from the community, who the police consulted in preparation for their response to the increased violence, attended the press conference at police headquarters today.
“We thank Chief Blair and Deputy Chief Sloly for meeting this head-on and for agreeing to sit down and get input from the folks who are on the frontlines that are dealing with this day to day,” said Jamaican Canadian Association president Audrey Campbell.
“It’s important that people understand that the additional policing they will see in their communities is for their safety because good, decent and hardworking citizens are caught in the crossfire and they are becoming the victims and the collateral damage…This is about preventing the loss of lives.”
The increased police presence in neighbourhoods is part of an all-out police blitz to stem gun and gang violence in the city that claimed four lives last week.
Acting Deputy Chief Jane Wilcox, in charge of Specialized Operations Command, which includes the Integrated Gun and Gang Task Force, said the additional financial support announced by the provincial government this week, allows her to add more investigators to the task force that has seized 250 crime guns off the street this year.
“The additional investigators will guarantee that we can put even more pressure on those individuals who have chosen violence and gang activity, especially those who have clearly demonstrated that they don’t care whose children or loved ones they hurt,” she said.
“Our gun and gang investigators will be working closely with our bail compliance officers from the Divisions to identify the right people and locate their guns. This combined effort along with the additional resources gives us a capacity that we haven’t had before.”
Chief Blair also encouraged those who know someone in possession of an illegal gun or know when violence may occur to contact police.
Anyone with information is asked to contact police at 416−808−2222, or Crime Stoppers anonymously at 416−222−TIPS (8477), online at 222tips.com, text TOR and your message to CRIMES (274637), or Leave A Tip on Facebook.
Download the free Crime Stoppers Mobile App on Apple iTunes, Google Play and Blackberry App World™
Source: http://goo.gl/udXsR
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