‘We have to look at the root cause of these problems:’ Tackling gun violence in Toronto
Posted March 16, 2024 6:53 pm.
Last Updated March 16, 2024 8:17 pm.
A drive-by shooting Friday in the York neighbourhood was the fourth in the past week and that has advocates once again highlighting the need to address the root causes of gun violence, particularly in young people.
According to Toronto police data, so far in 2024, there has been a 140 per cent increase in the number of shooting incidents compared to the same time period in 2023. In the past week alone, one man was injured in a shooting Monday in Etobicoke, two people were killed and a third wounded in a daylight triple shooting on Tuesday in Regent Park, and a young male was injured in Friday’s drive-by shooting.
While a spokesperson for the City referenced its SafeTO program, a 10-year community safety and well-being plan geared toward preventing violence through engagement and intervention efforts, advocates say the city doesn’t fully grasp what’s going on in the community.
“We need to look at the fact of sustainable income, poverty, and also trauma that these young people have been dealing with,” said Richard Miller, founder of the non-profit Keep6ix. “Even if we have them locked up, sooner or later they have to come back out into a community.”
Miller says while governments look at pouring more money into policing, organizations such as his continue to struggle to find the necessary resources to keep doing what they’re doing.
“We have to look at really fixing these young people, invest into the mental health part of it, invest it into their work employment and invest into schools and so forth like that to be able to allow these individuals to grow but overcome whatever trauma that they’ve occurred,” he said.
“Unfortunately, our government is looking at other solutions.”
Ontario Premier Doug Ford was recently quoted as saying he would build as many jails as needed to “put these criminals behind bars for a long time,” despite data which shows the inmate population has surged to the point where the vast majority of correctional institutions are well over capacity.
