Cops raid street gangs

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Last updated at 7:59 AM on 14/06/07

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'Significant blow' to organized crime

NOOR JAVED
The Canadian Press

A unidentified woman is taken into custody in the Jane and Finch area of Toronto on Wednesday, as police in Toronto and several other cities staged a series of pre-dawn raids dubbed Project Kryptic. (CP PHOTO)
A unidentified woman is taken into custody in the Jane and Finch area of Toronto on Wednesday, as police in Toronto and several other cities staged a series of pre-dawn raids dubbed Project Kryptic. (CP PHOTO)

A series of extensive pre-dawn police raids that resulted in more than 60 arrests in Toronto and cities across southern Ontario has dealt a major blow to the operations of organized crime and street gangs across the province, officials said yesterday.

While police said the arrest of the alleged leaders of Toronto's Driftwood Crips street gang will make the entire region safer, one expert believes the sense of security could be short-lived.

"Today, we have one less street gang terrorizing the neighbourhoods in the city of Toronto," said Toronto police Chief Bill Blair.

"With the arrest of those individuals, with the seizure of their weapons, and the profits of their criminal enterprise, I believe we have dealt organized crime groups a significant blow," Blair told a news conference.

"I believe our city is safer because of the work that has been done today."

More than 700 police officers descended across Toronto, Niagara and Barrie before sunrise and conducted more than 130 searches as part of the operation dubbed "Project Kryptic."

The raids involved police from the Ontario Provincial Police, RCMP and officers from the regions of Peel, Durham and York, as well as the Ontario communities of Niagara, Barrie, Waterloo, Halton, Guelph, London, Hamilton, Belleville, Peterborough-Lakefield and Kings-ton.

Blair stressed the operation was the result of an 11-month investigation and was not a roundup in response to the recent shooting of Jordan Manners, 15, in a school hallway, that has put the spotlight on gangs.

Blair said the searches and arrests were co-ordinated with "surgical precision," but were primarily aimed at the Crips in the Jane-Finch area of Toronto, notorious for its high crime rate.

Many of the teenagers arrested were still in their pyjamas as police handcuffed and took them away in police cruisers early yesterday morning.

Author Michael Chettleburgh, author of Young Thugs: Inside the Dangerous World of Street Gangs, who spent years studying gangs in Canada believes that while raids help nab some bona fide criminals, they can also create a vacuum for other offenders to thrive in.

"When you take a leading gang out of any community, it creates more elbow room for other gangs who are at a more embryonic stage, and gives them an opportunity to grow," he said.

"The demand for those drugs, the demand for those guns will still continue whether that gang is in place or not."

Chettleburgh said police must deal with the underlying causes of why kids are participating in gang-related behaviour.

"The street gang situation is not one we can arrest our way out of," he said.

Blair said police would continue to have a greater presence in the area, and did not rule out more arrests.

Ontario's attorney general went further and said the raids are just the tip of the iceberg in a campaign to wipe out organized crime.

"The answer to gun and gang crime and an increase to organized crime is organized justice," said Michael Bryant.

Why schools aren't safe

Why schools aren't safe
CARLOS OSORIO/TORONTO STAR
Julian Falconer, left, chair of the School Community Safety Advisory Panel, and Gerry Connelly, Toronto District’s director of education, present the panel’s report yesterday.
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Why schools aren't safe
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VOICES
I made a brief announcement before lunch (about the report) and the fact that the media was at Jefferys, and I urged students to continue to focus on the future and to try and move this momentum that we've gained to a higher level.
Jim Spyropoulos, principal, C.W. Jefferys
If there are people who are experiencing violence, or are afraid to talk about violence that they are experiencing, that's unacceptable. Is it my experience that there's a pervasive culture of fear or violence in the Toronto board? No, that is not my personal experience.
Education Minister Kathleen Wynne, involved in the Toronto board as parent and trustee
The big picture is not that schools are going into the ditch – because they're not. But are there kids who need assistance? Of course, and the Ontario government should cut a cheque right away for more social workers, psychologists, more adults supervising in schools.
Stu Auty, chair, Canadian Safe School Network
I'm not disagreeing there is some culture of fear in schools – some scary things happen and there are certain places in some schools where teachers don't want to go, even in pairs, even with walkie-talkies. But if the report gives the impression schools are a war zone, I'm not happy because overall, most kids are okay.
Doug Jolliffe, president, Ontario Secondary School Teachers' Federation, Toronto District
Our whole approach to community safety is exactly that, building partnerships in neighbourhoods. That's why our recreational strategy, for example, significantly increases the access to recreational programs of people of low income, very dramatically. All governments, and the private sector and the non-profit sector have a role to play.
Toronto Mayor David Miller
Just as rural and northern schools have particular issues, so do urban schools and it is imperative we address them. Let's focus on prevention rather than finding more ways to simply lock down our schools. There must be increased funding for social workers, psychologists, guidance counsellors and youth workers.
Annie Kidder, executive director, People For Education
Tale of survival at troubled Westview high school
Kimone Hyman didn't recognize the student barrelling toward her, but four years later she still remembers his face – and the bloodstained knife.
Jordan Manners' death illustrates how board lacks resources to help the students it serves
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Akiel Eubank, 21 “extremely well known to the Toronto police service as an active gang member,” And, an eleven year old boy is dead.
It was supposed to end with Jane Creba. Then. last year another kid was killed by more street cowards.
This idiot country is supposed to have anti-gang laws. Yet, there are over 800 known, extremely violent gangs operating across Canada... in full view of police. Yet, innocent kids continue to die.
This creep, "refused to co-operate with police. Then why in hell are we even patching him up. Let the bastard die of his wounds. Or, when he's better... boot him and his entire family out of the country.
It's time we start taking back the streets. It's time we apply some good ole street justice on these creeps and cowards who, without guns, are just useless trash. And, the only thing you do with treash is eliminate it!!!
Obviously our politicians, starting with Stockwell Day and the federal "justice" minister, then all the provincial goof-offs have no intention to move their butts except to make silly stupid statements of horror each and every time their ineptitude results in another death.
1) Cut back on immigration and refugee importation of the kind of garbage we've attracted over the last twenty five years.
2) When one of these scum commits a serious offense, they go right back home... WITH THEIR ENTIRE FAMILY. Believe me, the families will keep these creeps in line.
3) Enact the anti gang laws. Round them up immediately. Disrupt and destroy. And, if we have to shoot a few of them, hell it's better than what we have now where they are shooting us!!!
4) Any politician up for re-election either supports a total ban on hand guns and an immediate crackdown on these gangs or DON'T VOTE FOR THE JERK!
What you see on our streets is our own fault. We accept the crap the government officials hand us and promise us but don't do a damned thing once we elect them.
SEND THEM A MESSAGE. Make you next vote count. They either support us or they don't get elected ! I'm open to your anger. My vote can be Bought (Yeh! Right!). Yours is!