The president of the Toronto Police Association is calling for a meeting with Premier Doug Ford and Mayor John Tory to come up with an “action plan" to curb the recent surge of violence in the city.
“This is very concerning, not only to us as a police service, a police association, but as somebody who lives in this city,” Toronto Police Association President Mike McCormack told CP24 on Monday. “We need to stem this violence and we need to do it now.”
Toronto has seen a total of 51 homicides and more than 200 shootings so far this year.
Just this past weekend, three people were shot on Queen Street in the city’s Entertainment District on Saturday evening. Two of those people died of their injuries. Then on Sunday night four people were wounded in a separate shooting in Kensington Market.
McCormack said more police officers are needed to do “proactive policing.”
“Our officers don’t have the time to do proactive policing. We are in a reactive mode. We need to sit down and do something, bring that proactive component back again to stem the tide of this violence,” he said.
“Get policing presence out there-- make it uncomfortable for people to be carrying guns, start to get that intelligence, start to get boots on the ground.”
He noted that after the deadly Danzig Street shooting in 2012, an increased police presence in the neighbourhood markedly improved community safety.
“We saw a 67 per cent decrease in homicides. We saw a 28 per cent decrease in overall crime,” he said.
McCormack said he is asking for a meeting with Ford and Tory to hammer out a concrete plan to address the increase in gun violence.
“What you saw over the weekend are public places where these people are pulling out guns and using them,” he said. “We have to face up that this is not a safe city at this time and we need to do something about it.”
For his part, Police Chief Mark Saunders has said more context is needed around the statistics.
Saunders previously said that Toronto is averaging only a few more homicides and shootings this year when comparing the numbers to the three-year trend.
Strategy needed to end 'senseless violence,' premier says
In a statement released Monday, Premier Ford acknowledged that more needs to be done to tackle the ongoing violence.
"My heart goes out to the victims of the shootings in Toronto over the Canada Day long weekend. This has been a very difficult summer in our city, and thoughts and prayers just aren't going to cut it anymore. We need action," he said.
"Toronto is home to the greatest police officers. We need to make sure they have the resources to round up these criminals, build relationships in communities, and prevent these shootings. I am looking forward to meeting with representatives from the Toronto Police in the near future so we can get to work on a strategy to end this senseless violence."
Mayor Tory also released a statement Monday, calling the gun violence over the past few weeks "unacceptable."
"As Mayor, the safety of our city is my top priority and one that I share with Chief Mark Saunders and the men and women of the Toronto Police Service. That's why we're hiring 200 police officers this year, why I've always advocated for tougher gun control and tougher bail conditions for gun crime, and why we're modernizing the police service to ensure there are more officers patrolling the streets," Tory's statement read.
The mayor said he plans to reach out to Ford and Public Safety Minister Ralph Goodale to discuss how to "ramp up" efforts to tackle gang violence and gun crime.
"I know they are both as committed as I am to putting these gangsters in jail," Tory continued.
"We need to toughen up bail guidelines for those caught committing gun crimes. Countless police officers – from constables to the Chief himself – have told me how frustrated they are by the fact someone they arrest for a gun crime can be back out on the street on bail quickly and ready to cause more mayhem. That is not right and that is something we can stop right now."
