The head of the Toronto Police Services’ Gun and Gang Task Force says that the city is in the midst of a “street gang turf war”.
Inspector Joseph Matthews says that the problem is so extensive “with hundreds of groups believed to be active.”
Matthews, who took over the Gun and Gang Task Force unit in January says his unit are doing the best they can to get guns and gang members off the street but have noticed an increase in the brazenness of gang violence, especially during this summer of 2019.
“It is definitely a street gang turf war that is going on. There is lot more brazenness in the gangsters with daytime shootings that we typically haven’t seen, It really creates a tremendous amount of concern for us with a number of innocent civilians walking around that time of day subject to the bullets that are going flying.”
2019 Toronto Shooting Statistics
- People shot in Toronto in 2019: 412
- Crime guns seized: 450
- Guns smuggled from the US: 1/4
- Number of homicides by gun: 40
Many of the guns that have been seized have been modified.
According to Inspector Matthews there are hundreds of gangs which are responsible for the majority of the violence.
“The problem is that while they do have a structure and are definitely organized because they are street gangs they quickly fraction off and one street gang may now become three street gangs,” Matthews said. “One part could be together for the drug trade, one part could be together for gun trade and one part could be together for violence so it is quite difficult to say the number. We know the neighbourhoods where they are because we have intelligence coming in telling us where these people are living and we see the areas where the violence is happening. That is where we are trying to put all of our resources.” [Source: cp24]
Less than two weeks ago all 3 levels of government provided Toronto Police Services with needed funds totally 4.5 million of which Chief of Police Mark Saunders says will go towards an initiative that will see additional clothed and plain-clothed police officers deployed across the city with the intent of curbing the violence.
In response to the problem with gun violence, Toronto Police Services has created the Integrated Gang Prevention Task Force, which plans to hold town hall meetings across Toronto starting in September in the hopes of creating a strong impact on the violence.
