OPINION: GTA violence out of control — leave law enforcement to the experts

When it comes to those responsible for this kind of violence, their race, gender, immigration status, or personal circumstances are irrelevant.

Article content If you are not shocked and completely fed up with the senseless violence we seem to witness almost every weekend, I’d like to buy the bubble you’re living in and see if it works for me. What unfolded in Toronto this past weekend pushed the Toronto Police Service and other emergency services to their limits. That is not an exaggeration.

A peaceful, well-organized community festival attended by thousands of families and protected by dozens of police officers became the place where rival gang members allegedly chose to settle their differences by opening fire indiscriminately. The result was unimaginable chaos. Multiple people were shot, two people lost their lives, and terrified families with young children were trampled as they desperately tried to escape the violence.

As emergency resources were stretched to the limit, police were forced to respond to additional shootings across the city, leaving multiple victims, including innocent people who were simply trying to enjoy a summer evening. Ironically, only days earlier, some critics questioned why Toronto Police officers were protecting the Pride Parade while carrying patrol rifles. This weekend served as a stark reminder that police prepare for the worst because they never know when the unthinkable will happen.

It could have been your festival. Leave it to the experts Leave law enforcement to the experts. There should be no debate that organized gangs continue to pose one of the greatest threats to public safety in our communities.

They operate with increasing boldness, showing little regard for innocent lives or the rule of law. In my opinion, part of that confidence stems from years of political interference in policing. Too often, decisions affecting frontline police work have been shaped by political pressure instead of the experience and professional judgment of those responsible for keeping our communities safe.

Take the elimination of carding and the significant restrictions placed on street checks. Those reforms followed concerns about fairness and their disproportionate impact on some communities. Those concerns deserved serious consideration.

However, many experienced police officers believe valuable investigative tools were lost in the process, making it more difficult to identify offenders, disrupt criminal activity, and prevent violence before it occurs. We should be able to have an honest conversation about whether current policies are achieving the balance Canadians expect: protecting civil liberties while also giving police the tools they need to keep our streets safe. Today, many police officers feel they are scrutinized for doing the difficult job society asks of them, while violent criminals appear increasingly willing to exploit weaknesses in both policing policy and a justice system that many Canadians believe has become too lenient toward repeat violent offenders.

If the indiscriminate violence we witnessed this weekend does not convince us that public safety must come first, what will? Time for evidence-based conversations Isn’t it time to have respectful, evidence-based conversations about what is happening in our communities and how we can better equip and support the police officers who confront this violence every day? Surely we can all agree on one thing: when it comes to those responsible for this kind of violence, their race, gender, immigration status, or personal circumstances are irrelevant.

What matters is that violent offenders are identified, arrested, prosecuted fairly, and prevented from creating more victims. The men and women serving in our police services deserve our gratitude and support. They are among the best-trained, most accountable, and most professional police officers in the world.

Every day they place themselves between violent offenders and the communities they have sworn to protect. Public safety should never become a political football. Give police the tools they need.

Hold them accountable for using those tools responsibly. Then allow them to do the job they were trained to do. It’s time for politics to get out of the way of policing.

It’s time to leave law enforcement to the experts. – David Perry is a retired Toronto Police officer and the founding chairman of Investigative Solutions Network Inc., a private investigation firm headquartered in Pickering