WRPS ‘very concerned’ over increase in gun-related violence

It’s an issue that has been on the rise throughout the Tri-Cities as Waterloo Regional Police Service (WRPS) is taking note of the growing cases of gun violence.

Two different incidents have been recently recorded over a four-day span, including a shooting on Nov. 27 in Cambridge and a fatal incident at Kitchener’s A Better Tent City.

“To date, this year we’ve had 21 shooting incidents in Waterloo Region. Four of those have been shooting homicides and last year there were 18 shooting incidents. The year before was 25,” said Chief of Waterloo Regional Police, Mark Crowell. “We’re in the range of the last couple of years and, I will say, every time that we cannot come to a point where we accept this as a level of acceptable activity or violence in our community.”

Crowell said one of the main aspects of the growing concern in the region is the blatancy of the situations themselves, with no consistent pattern as to the locations and times of the gun-related incidents.

“We’re seeing guns show up in broad daylight in the midst of commercial plazas, residential areas, and I can say that in this community, across Ontario, we’re very concerned.”

Outside of direct shootings, there are other scenarios that have been linked to gun violence in the region, with Crowell adding carjackings in particular have seen one of the steepest increases in numbers.

“People being accosted, confronted at their vehicles. It could be in their driveway, could be in a commercial plaza to steal a car, half of them have been with a weapon such as a firearm,” said Crowell.

“We’ve seen more than a doubling this year of carjackings in this region, and that is matching across Ontario.”

He mentioned some people have an initial reaction of fighting for what is theirs, which he says can often compound the problem. He says the escalation is often not worth it and can create a more dire situation for the individuals involved.

“There’s no possession that is worth anyone’s life. People should stick up for themselves and protect themselves the best they can, but I can tell you that the brazen, violent behaviour is of our greatest concern to disrupt, to intervene, and to seek to protect people. We don’t want people to get in a fight over a possession that will end up leading them to be harmed or killed.”

Crowell stresses the issue of gun violence, shootings, and carjackings is one that spans much further than just Waterloo Region. He said the problems will only be met with proper solutions once the issues’ sources are tackled across the country.

“I believe you will see a strong press for us to have an all Canada, all Ontario approach to stopping illegal guns from crossing the border that are ending up on the streets,” said Crowell. “There’s more to be done from police, from our legislators, from our border security, and also anyone involved in the space that has the possession of legal or even imitation firearms for all kinds of reasons.”

He mentioned conversations and debates will always be prevalent around gun laws, but adds that he’s firm on the belief that anytime a gun is involved on either side of a criminal offense, people will always be at risk.