As Torontoâs police chief outlined a plan for increased guns and gang enforcement Wednesday, academics and advocates said they continue to be frustrated by what they call a short-sighted approach to the problem.For the second summer in a row, the Toronto Police Service is launching a multimillion-dollar initiative to combat gun violence by putting more resources into on-the-ground policing in problem areas. This time, Chief Mark Saunders said, itâs an 11-week, $4.5-million initiative dubbed âProject Community Spaceâ that will see officers under the direction of the serviceâs guns and gangs task force conduct intelligence-led work.In the wake of a rash of gun violence in recent weeks â including the fatal shooting Friday of 29-year-old Kevin Reddick â Mayor John Tory announced Monday that municipal, provincial and federal governments would each pledge $1.5 million âto help fund immediate efforts to address the current gun violence.âBut researchers say increased policing is not the long-term strategy needed to curb gun violence that has increased since last year, when mounting public pressure led Saunders and Tory announce $3 million to send 200 additional officers to patrol high-risk areas. âItâs just so tiring to repeat the same thing over and over again,â said University of Toronto sociologist Akwasi Owusu-Bempah. He said Saunders and Tory have both said ââWe canât arrest our way out of these problemsâ â and then they promise more money to the police.âOwusu-Bempah said the type of policing proposed may temporarily reduce retaliatory violence, but that some police tactics can also erode confidence in the force.âThese are simply short-term approaches and in the long run these are not the solutions to these problems,â he said, likening the policing efforts to putting âBand-Aids on the social woundsâ born of social, political and econo ...
|