Toronto Police Chief Mark Saunders says he is concerned about the “brazenness” of some of the shootings that occurred in the downtown core over the weekend.
Speaking to CP24 on Tuesday morning, Saunders weighed in on the recent gun violence in the city, including a deadly daylight shooting on Queen Street West on Saturday night that left two men dead and one woman injured.
“This is not the norm,” Saunders said. “Right in broad daylight on some of the busiest intersections of our city where there is gunplay.”
On Sunday, four people were wounded in a shooting in Kensington Market and on Tuesday morning, one man was shot near King and Portland streets.
“The gunplay usually occurs at night in particular neighbourhoods where there is not as much capacity of people,” Saunders added. “The brazenness is a concern.”
While Saunders acknowledged that there has been an increase in shootings and homicides, the police chief maintains that the numbers are not really out of step with past years.
“When we go back to 2016, the numbers are almost on par,” Saunders said.
He also noted that the city has seen brazen shootings before.
“If you remember two years ago we had two cars going up the Allen expressway shooting at each other during rush hour,” Saunders said.
He also was quick to point out that the gun violence is typically linked to gang activity.
“The vast majority of the gun play in the city can be associated somehow with a street gang,” he said.
“This is pointed to specific people. A random person walking down the street, it is highly unlikely that they are going to be in harm’s way.”
Police union head requests meeting with premier, mayor
The police chief’s comments come one day after Mike McCormack, the head of the Toronto Police Association, asked for a meeting with Mayor John Tory and Premier Doug Ford to address the surge in shootings in Toronto.
McCormack called for more resources to allow officers to engage in “proactive” rather than “reactive” policing.
Saunders said while he would always welcome more resources, there could be better ways to utilize existing resources.
“When most of my calls are non-emergency calls and yet the Toronto police have to inherit those calls, why are we doing it? We are a city of festivals. Last weekend 300 officers (were) dealing with festivals. Why are the police doing that? Other entities need to be doing that so the community has those officers available for what they are highly trained to do,” Saunders said.
Mayor Tory said Tuesday that he has been in contact with the police chief about what can be done in the short term to help officers combat gang violence, including the installation of more surveillance cameras and the redeployment of police resources.
“(We are) trying to move as fast as we can to put some of the resources in place to take the load off police in terms of non-emergency calls,” Tory said.
“The fewer of those they are doing, the more they can devote their time to being in the community, being a presence there that I think will frankly send the bad guys away.”
Tory added that the city is also looking at how they can provide further support and funding to community programs that offer kids a positive alternative to gang activity.
In a statement released Monday, Premier Ford said a strategy is needed to end the “senseless violence.”
"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,” Ford said.
“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."
The mayor said he appreciates Ford’s willingness to get involved to help curb gang activity.
“I also understand that he is trying to get the legislature recalled, he is trying to do a number of things, so we are trying to schedule a meeting as quickly as possible,” Tory said.
The mayor added that he expects to be in contact with the federal public safety minister later today.
“One of the reasons why we have to get together as three governments and as the police service to talk about these things is because it does require multiple efforts on the part of multiple governments and agencies,” Tory said.
Downtown shootings by the numbers:
So far in 2018, the number of shootings occurrences in the three Toronto police divisions that largely encompass the downtown core (14 Division, 51 Division, and 52 Division) has risen by 100 per cent over the same time frame last year. The number of shooting victims has risen by 133 per cent.
Breakdown of shooting numbers in 14 Division, 51 Division, and 52 Division over the past three years.
Jan. 1 to July 1, 2018:
Total number of shooting occurrences: 47
Total number of shooting victims: 63
Number of shootings resulting in death: 5
Number of shootings with injuries: 23
Number of shootings without injuries: 16
Number of shootings with unknown injuries: 19
Jan. 1 to July 1, 2017:
Total number of shootings occurrences: 21
Total number of shooting victims: 27
Number of shootings resulting in death: 3
Number of shootings with injuries: 10
Number of shootings without injuries: 7
Number of shootings with unknown injuries: 7
Jan. 1 to July 1, 2016:
Total number of shootings occurrences: 26
Total number of shooting victims: 40
Number of shootings resulting in death: 5
Number of shootings with injuries: 18
Number of shootings without injuries: 10
Number of shootings with unknown injuries: 7
Breakdown of shootings across all divisions in Toronto over the past three years:
Jan. 1 to July 1, 2018:
Total number of shooting occurrences: 208
Total number of shooting victims: 274
Number of shootings resulting in death: 24
Number of shootings with injuries: 79
Number of shootings without injuries: 86
Number of shootings with unknown injuries: 85
Jan. 1 to July 1, 2017:
Total number of shootings occurrences: 177
Total number of shooting victims: 258
Number of shootings resulting in death: 16
Number of shootings with injuries: 70
Number of shootings without injuries: 83
Number of shootings with unknown injuries: 89
Jan. 1 to July 1, 2016:
Total number of shootings occurrences: 189
Total number of shooting victims: 270
Number of shootings resulting in death: 24
Number of shootings with injuries: 71
Number of shootings without injuries: 96
Number of shootings with unknown injuries: 79
