Pubdate: Thu, 24 Dec 2015
Source: StarPhoenix, The (CN SN)
Contact:  2015 The StarPhoenix
Website: http://thestarphoenix.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/400
Author: Charles Hamilton
Page: A3

POLICE CHIEF PRAISES STAFF FOR MINIMIZING GUN, GANG VIOLENCE

As 2015 draws to a close, the Saskatoon StarPhoenix sat down with 
police Chief Clive Weighill to talk about everything from the 
controversies around carding to the possibility of legalized marijuana.

Q What was the overall crime picture like in Saskatoon in 2015?

A We had a very tough time in March and April. We had about 16 or 17 
shootings and a few homicides. The city was really heating up, but 
things seem to have calmed down and plateaued now. Our guns and gangs 
unit really made a big difference, I think, doing a lot interventions 
with the gangs and stopping a lot of the violence as a result.

Q How do you combat the violence, the kind of fear felt by some 
people in the city?

A We increase our visibility. So for instance, when we were having 
the shootings and homicides in the spring we increased our visibility 
on the street. Sometimes you just have to saturate an area.

Q Does that mean street checks or carding, where people are stopped 
and their information is taken down even though they did not commit a crime?

A People are concerned about street checks, but when there is 
violence on the street we have to be out there, we have to be talking 
to people, we have to be checking people out.

Q Nationally, there's been lot of controversy around street checks. 
Where do you think that discussion is going to go in the new year?

A In Saskatoon, hopefully we can meet with some of the people who are 
concerned with the way they operate. I can understand their concerns, 
I can see their point of view, absolutely. But I think it's 
imperative for us to meet. There was a small demonstration in front 
of TCU Place in the fall and when I went to that, people were saying, 
'This isn't the appropriate place for the chief to talk' - OK, I 
understand that. Then when they come to the board of police 
commissioners' meeting, we are talking about it there and they turn 
their backs on us. Somewhere along the line we have to sit down and 
have an adult conversation about this. There is no use being 
polarized. There has got to be some common ground on this. I 
understand how they feel, but at the same time we have to do our job.

Q What about people who say they have every right to be out at 3 a.m. 
free from police interference?

A They do, but the flip side of that is when someone phones police 
and says we have five or six people in my back lane or in my back 
yard, we have to check it out. There has to be some movement on this. 
It's not black and white. We have to ask people what they are doing 
in the evening. If not, we are lost as a police service. We have the 
highest crime rate in Canada of any large centre. Our police have to 
be out there.

Q Shifting to another crime trend we are seeing here in Saskatoon - 
guns. Are we seeing more gun violence in the city that we did 10 years ago?

A There are more weapons in the city. A lot of it is associated with 
drugs, unfortunately. Cocaine, methamphetamine, fentanyl - they are 
all popular drugs right now and they are all coming in from outside 
the city. People that are selling them, people involved in them are 
ripping each other off. They are using weapons to commit armed 
robberies for the money so the users can afford the drugs. A lot of 
things we are seeing are revolving around the drug scene in Saskatoon 
- - the gangs, the violence, the armed robberies. If you're a meth 
addict, that's what you live for and you need to money to buy the drug.

Q If that's the root of it, how do you tackle such a huge problem as 
drug abuse?

A The big picture, in my opinion, is a lot of the people who are 
getting into the drugs and that way of life is because of the 
predicament they have been placed in - the poverty, the poor housing, 
the racism, the disadvantage. There is not a lot of hope and that's 
what leads them into the life, and then it ends up in crime. We are 
calling on the federal government to come up with a plan for action. 
We are not asking the federal government to solve it. It's a big 
issue. We have a problem and we have to deal with it. We are asking 
the federal government to take a leadership role and come up with 
some solutions.

Q What about the pending legalization of marijuana? Do you have any 
major concerns about legalizing the drug?

A We are very neutral on that. It looks like the majority of 
Canadians want it. All we are asking is, if it is going to be 
legalized, we want in on the consultation. We have to make sure that 
impaired driving is taken care of, that we keep it away from youth. 
There will be some sort of tax regime that prices marijuana at a 
certain dollar figure, and we have to make sure people don't try to 
undercut that by selling it on the street.
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom