Peel region's police chief had a tough time explaining the recent hike in homicides after four young men were killed in separate incidents this past week.

Peel region Police Chief Mike Metcalf said Thursday he is concerned about the rise in violence but that there is no single factor that can be blamed.

"If you do the analysis, you'll see that there isn't one single reason or one single age group that's doing it," he told reporters at Peel region council headquarters. "It's sporadic."

Metcalf made a special presentation to Peel's council about the escalating crime and suggested police could use an extra 200 officers in the service.

However he told reporters after his presentation that police are ready to handle whatever comes their way. "I don't want anybody to be alarmed over it," he said. "We have the capacity to deal with this and we will."

Of the 24 murders this year, charges have been laid in 15 of those cases, according to statistics from Peel police.

One local councillor suggested the crime problems could be related to the area's fast population growth.

"The population is changing over the years and social norms, it seems, are also changing," Mississauga Coun. Katie Mahoney told reporters. "I would suggest more so in Brampton at this stage because that's where the growth is occurring."

She said the population in Peel has increased by 33 per cent in the last five years.

"We are falling behind in some areas, particularly the newer areas, and there's not the infrastructure to support it," she said. "The community centres and the libraries and that sort of thing to support activities for the population's youth (are not available.)"

The latest person to die violently is a 14-year-old Brampton student.

Ravi Rajiv Dharamdial, was walking home from school when he was brutally stabbed. He called 911 as he lay dying in a field not far from his house.

Friends and family said Dharamdial was a wonderful son and terrific student. Police say the youth had never been in trouble with the law.

"This is my good son, and he's gone," Ramkaram Dharamdial told CTV Toronto on Thursday. "If I have my say, punish them the way my son perished."

He wants the suspects, who haven't been located yet, tried as adults.

Area residents say some bad kids hang out at Fairlawn park, which is not far from where Ravi died.

"They smoke, they drink and after that, they're out of money, so they do do bad things for money," Ramkaram said.

With a report from CTV Toronto's Austin Delaney