Pubdate: Fri, 12 Dec 2014
Source: Ottawa Citizen (CN ON)
Copyright: 2014 Postmedia Network Inc.
Contact: http://www.canada.com/ottawacitizen/letters.html
Website: http://www.ottawacitizen.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/326
Author: Shaamini Yogaretnam
Page: A3

POLICE CHIEF DEFENDS FORCE'S GANG STRATEGY

Drug turf battles being blamed for high number of shootings this
year

Police believe Ottawa street gangs who are dealing crack cocaine are
fighting over drugs and their areas of distribution and retaliating
against those who steal from them, causing an unprecedented number of
shootings.

But even with record-high gun violence - 45 shootings to date in 2014
- - police Chief Charles Bordeleau flatly rejected the suggestion that
the force's gang strategy, just more than a year old, needs to be rethought.

"There's reasons why we have a record number of shootings - around the
drug trade - that's taken place. The gang strategy is both short- and
long- and-medium term," Bordeleau said.

"Right now, this is about enforcement, suppression, visibility and
arresting these individuals who are responsible for these recent shootings."

Bordeleau acknowledged that Wednesday night's shooting - the most
recent - was the second on Penny Drive in just six days. There was
also a shooting incident on Nov. 26.

Shortly after 8 p.m., two bullets hit an empty van and a third bullet
was fired into a home with people inside it. No one was injured.

Officers had been patrolling Penny Drive, left and then returned to
the scene quickly after the shooting, Bordeleau said.

But while police presence and visibility had been increased following
the previous shooting, Wednesday's gunfire suggests to police that
those responsible have little to no regard for the communities in
which they conduct their criminal business or the measures in place to
curb the violence.

All three Penny Drive shootings began with parking-lot altercations
with gunfire spilling over into other areas.

"That's the real issue here. The community is becoming the backdrop to
these disputes," Insp. Chris Renwick, who oversees the guns and gangs
unit, said Thursday.

Bay ward Coun. Mark Taylor had asked Thursday morning for additional
police protection and patrol teams while west-side communities work
out a plan to stem the violence. Bordeleau agreed to step up police
presence.

Bordeleau said the drug unit is working side-by-side with the guns and
gangs unit to suppress the gang activity, which police believe is a
direct result of the drug trade.

Members of the drug unit and the surveillance section have been
temporarily reassigned to assist guns and gangs with dozens of open
and ongoing shooting investigations.

Taylor has scheduled a private meeting with law enforcement and
community agencies, including social housing landlord Ottawa Community
Housing, on Dec. 16 to discuss a strategy to best deal with the
growing violence and fear.

Increasing police presence, while necessary now, won't be enough,
Taylor said.

"That's the short-term solution," he said. "The longer-term solution
is one our partners have to come up with and implement. What are the
tools we have to use to tackle this stuff?"

Taylor said that residents of areas such as Michele Heights, the
community in which Penny Drive is located, have to start speaking out
about crime in their neighbourhood. He said people's staying silent,
turning their heads away from criminal activity, won't help to improve
life in the area.

"We're looking for residents to help by calling and reporting what
they see, reporting what they know," he said. "I know it's scary. It
causes a lot of anxiety to call information in. But we're at this
point where the violence is now spilling over and (there is the)
potential to hurt an innocent. To the folks who say, 'I don't want it
to affect me', it already is."
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MAP posted-by: Matt