Despite Largest Single Seizure of Guns by Police, Shootings Still a Concern

By Neil Armstrong

Photo contributed  Louis March, founder of the Zero Gun Violence Movement

Despite recently making the largest single seizure of crime guns in the history of the Toronto Police Service (TPS), gun violence in Toronto and the Greater Toronto Area continues to be a concern for the police and residents.

A nine-month investigation by the TPS resulted in a major disruption of a street gang that has criminal activities extended throughout Toronto and the Greater Toronto Area and into other parts of the country, the United States and even as far away as the Caribbean.

Speaking at a press conference after the gang bust on June 21, Police Chief Mark Saunders said the investigation of the Five Point Generalz dubbed “Project Patton” was based on intelligence the police had that led them to suspect that the gang was operating as a criminal organization.

They also believed that the gang was involved in illegal activities that posed a direct threat to community safety.

Project Patton involved more than 800 police officers from Toronto, Halton, Waterloo, London, Guelph, Barrie, RCMP, Durham, Windsor, Ontario Provincial Police, Peel and York.
Seventy-five people were arrested with more than 1,000 charges laid.

The seizure included 78 firearms, 270 rounds of ammunition, 75 firearm magazines, plus an additional 55 over-capacity magazines, drugs including cocaine, fentanyl, carfentanil, heroin and marijuana, and a total of $184,000 in cash. 

Sixty of the handguns were bought in Florida and allegedly smuggled across the border and intercepted by Toronto Police in Cornwall – making this the largest single seizure of crime guns in TPS history, said Don Belanger, acting inspector of the Integrated Gun and Gang Task Force.

Police are confident that the raid has effectively disrupted and dealt a significant blow to the gang’s hierarchy and operations.

Saunders said the Five Point Generalz is a dangerous street gang that has its roots in the Weston Road and Lawrence Avenue West area. 

He said the street gang uses firearms for business processes and has no hesitation in using firearms. 

“When we talk about gunplay in the city, street gangs play a huge and massive role in that type of activity.”

Since the start of the year, as of June 25, Toronto Police statistics indicate that there have been 257 victims of shootings and 199 incidents, the latest being on June 24. Last year there were 248 victims and 170 incidents during the same period. 

Photo contributed  Adaoma Patterson, president of the Jamaican Canadian Association

Adaoma Patterson, president of the Jamaican Canadian Association, says the JCA continues to be concerned about the escalation of violent crime in the Greater Toronto Area. 

“This is an issue affecting not just Toronto but the cities surrounding Toronto and is a reflection of the economic and social inequities that exist in our area. Now more than ever government and the community sector must work together to ensure resources are allocated to neighbourhoods most in need. Now is not the time to cut budgets and programs that support our children, youth and their parents who are often struggling to make ends meet and have limited opportunities,” she said.

Police Regional Police Chief Jennifer Evans says the escalation in gun violence, not only within the region, but across the GTA is concerning.

“We at Peel Regional Police know that getting to the bottom of gun violence is about more than just making arrests, it’s about preventing gun violence in the first place. That means keeping kids from joining gangs, increasing trust with our community to enhance crime reporting, and continuing to strengthen relationships,” said Evans in a press release.

Chief Saunders said the vast majority of people in the city of 2.8 million people feel safe but there is a need to have a holistic approach examining the root causes of gun violence. 

Reacting to four fatal shootings of the weekend of June 23, Mayor John Tory said Toronto is a safe city but gangs need to be taken off the streets.

Meanwhile, Louis March, a Jamaican who founded the Zero Gun Violence Movement in 2013, says the recent shootings in Toronto are almost predictable because of the trends.

He said there was a 100 per cent increase in homicides resulting from shootings between 2013 and 2016. 

He noted that after 2005 -- “The Year of the Gun” -- there were 52 homicides, but in 2013 there was a significant reduction to 22 “because people woke up and realized that you had to get the youth engaged in positive work programs.”

The youth outreach programs were set up by the city and province resulting in youth engaging youth as they were going through their troubled times, keeping them occupied, directing them to the right resources and supports when necessary, he said.

March says the rise in shootings in 2013 could be attributed to some of the funding for these programs coming to an end.

“But then we realized that in communities where there used to be one or two guns that used to be shared, rented, borrowed amongst the people, all of a sudden everybody had one or two guns themselves.”

He said his organization saw an increase in the supply and caliber of guns and a decline in the age of those using guns – from those in their 20s and 30s to teenagers – and they saw an increase in the brazenness of the shootings. 

March said social media was being used by the perpetrators to “glorify, predict, challenge, retaliate” resulting in an uptick of violence in the city but “nobody was listening.”

He also said the poverty gap has widened and while in some communities, like Rosedale, there are many supports and resources; in Rexdale there’s the total opposite.

Youth in some neighbourhoods have told him that it is easier for them to get guns than to get jobs.

He believes the problem is about socioeconomics and that all the stakeholders, including youth, ex-cons and the families of victims, must be brought together to re-evaluate strategies.

The anti-gun violence advocate wants the federal government to examine its gun control legislation.

Meanwhile, a provincial Progressive Conservative spokesman said the government of Premier Doug Ford and the Ontario PCs are committed to restoring provincial funding for anti-gang and anti-gun task forces in Toronto.

[An edited version of this story was published in the North American Weekly Gleaner, July 5-11 & July 12-18, 2018 issues.]