Pubdate: Sun, 29 Dec 2013 Source: Toronto Sun (CN ON) Copyright: 2013 Canoe Limited Partnership Contact: http://torontosun.com/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/457 Author: Chris Doucette WAR ON GANGS IN 2013 Crackdown Helped Reduce Crime: Chief Toronto Police targeted some of the city's worst gangs with a vengeance in 2013. Chief Bill Blair says those crackdowns helped minimize the bloodshed on our streets and led, at least in part, to a 12% drop in violent crime in 2013. "We work really hard to deal with all of the violence that takes place, but I think we've been very effective over the last several years in addressing the violence of gangs," the city's top cop told the Toronto Sun. "We'll continue to pursue the gangs, to dismantle them and minimize their opportunity and ability to wreak harm in the city." In October, police revealed that two probes - Project Brazen and Quell - led to 41 arrests and 417 charges against suspected members of the Galloway Boys and the Orton Park Bloods. The two gangs were locked in a bloody war for control of the drug trade in Scarborough, a feud that is believed to have left at least one dead and five wounded. In June, cops wrapped up a year-long operation dubbed Project Traveller with a slew of pre-dawn raids at an Etobicoke highrise complex. That sweep, which targeted the Dixon City Bloods, resulted in 43 busts and 220 charges. Sun sources claim some of those arrests prevented imminent killings. As of Dec. 28, there had been 56 murders in the city in 2013, up slightly from a year ago when there were 54 slayings in Toronto. But, it's a far cry from the 84 homicides the city tallied in 2007. However, Blair knows the city's gang problem "hasn't gone away." As recently as Christmas night, there was a shooting in Scarborough that he said was "clearly gang-related." That incident, a suspected shootout involving a high powered rifle, left one man fighting for his life and a neighbourhood sprayed with gunfire. Blair said the success his troops have had in combatting gangs may have had an unintended side effect. A steady stream of kids, 15 and 16, were killed or wounded by gunfire in 2013, which Blair said may be the result of police having "taken out the senior leadership" in some gangs. As older gangbangers are taken off the street, a younger generation often steps in to fill the void. "A lot of them are trying to establish reputations, so what we are seeing is violence among a younger cohort of people who are trying to establish themselves," he explained, adding police make every effort to prevent gangs from reinfiltrating a community. "We put officers in there to work with the community, to work with the kids, to try to help them to make better decisions," Blair said. "Unfortunately, in a large city, there will always be a small number of young people who are going to make the wrong choices," he said, adding such youngsters tend to be "naive" about the consequences. Blair said young teens are also prone to getting angry over "relatively trivial things" and their disputes can "quickly escalate into deadly violence." "I just think it's really tragic that 15-year-olds can get their hands on firearms," Blair said. - --- MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom