- 注册
- 2002-10-07
- 消息
- 402,281
- 荣誉分数
- 76
- 声望点数
- 0
Keeping young people out of gangs to begin with is the best way to tackle the ongoing violence on Ottawa streets, several city councillors said Thursday, a day after the fourth homicide in two months.
Gloucester-Southgate Coun. Diane Deans says the city must do more to support vulnerable communities and divert children, while they’re still young, to activities that will expose them to role models and keep them out of trouble.
“If we spend the money at the front end, we may save lives and save families from a lot of grief later, and that, to me, is where we should be focusing,” she said.
Deans says she hears from frightened Somali mothers in her south Ottawa ward who see children as young as 13 taken under the wing of drug dealers but can’t do anything to stop it.
“Once they get taken into that drug world, it’s very hard to get them out of it,” Deans said.
The chair of the police services board agrees prevention is key.
But Eli El-Chantiry said the police also need to hear from family members who fear a child or sibling is starting to associate with a gang. “That’s where we need the support of the community and the family if they want us to be able to get a better result than what we have,” he said.
If a young person who doesn’t have a job suddenly has a nice car, expensive clothes or goes out all the time, families must inquire about where the money is coming from, he said.
Police also need eyewitnesses and associates to cooperate by giving statements or testifying, but that, too, remains a challenge, said El-Chantiry, who is notified by Ottawa police Chief Charles Bordeleau whenever there’s a homicide.
“Our heart goes to the victim’s family,” he said. “They’re somebody’s son, somebody’s brother, somebody’s father, somebody’s brother-in-law.”
Even with eight to 10 homicides a year, Ottawa remains a safe city, he said.
Mark Taylor, the councillor for Bay ward, where Wednesday’s killing occurred, said the one “consoling factor” is that the latest attack was targeted at one person who was known to police.
“The underlying message here is if you don’t hang out with bad people, bad things don’t happen to you,” he said.
mpearson@postmedia.com
twitter.com/mpearson78
查看原文...
Gloucester-Southgate Coun. Diane Deans says the city must do more to support vulnerable communities and divert children, while they’re still young, to activities that will expose them to role models and keep them out of trouble.
“If we spend the money at the front end, we may save lives and save families from a lot of grief later, and that, to me, is where we should be focusing,” she said.
Deans says she hears from frightened Somali mothers in her south Ottawa ward who see children as young as 13 taken under the wing of drug dealers but can’t do anything to stop it.
“Once they get taken into that drug world, it’s very hard to get them out of it,” Deans said.
The chair of the police services board agrees prevention is key.
But Eli El-Chantiry said the police also need to hear from family members who fear a child or sibling is starting to associate with a gang. “That’s where we need the support of the community and the family if they want us to be able to get a better result than what we have,” he said.
If a young person who doesn’t have a job suddenly has a nice car, expensive clothes or goes out all the time, families must inquire about where the money is coming from, he said.
Police also need eyewitnesses and associates to cooperate by giving statements or testifying, but that, too, remains a challenge, said El-Chantiry, who is notified by Ottawa police Chief Charles Bordeleau whenever there’s a homicide.
“Our heart goes to the victim’s family,” he said. “They’re somebody’s son, somebody’s brother, somebody’s father, somebody’s brother-in-law.”
Even with eight to 10 homicides a year, Ottawa remains a safe city, he said.
Mark Taylor, the councillor for Bay ward, where Wednesday’s killing occurred, said the one “consoling factor” is that the latest attack was targeted at one person who was known to police.
“The underlying message here is if you don’t hang out with bad people, bad things don’t happen to you,” he said.
mpearson@postmedia.com
twitter.com/mpearson78
查看原文...
