The Driftwood takedown
June 14
Every few months, it seems we are subjected to some kind of "successful" raid where the police take out a gang. Every time this happens, the police say something like, "This will go a long way toward stopping the violence and will put a dent in the drug trade."
Yet despite these pronouncements, the drug trade and the shootings continue.
The time to dramatically alter our drug policy is now. The "war on drugs" is nothing more than a war on certain segments of society declared by the police. This, like any war, results in enemies. So it is no surprise when people are reluctant to help police by being a "snitch." To many, the police are the enemy.
As long as we continue to guarantee a lucrative market to thugs, gangs and bikers, the violence will continue. Keeping drugs illegal results in gun violence, distrust of the police, more people in jail and crying little girls on the front page of the Toronto Star who now will view the police as enemies.
Chet Wydrzynski, Toronto
Dalton McGuinty, Michael Bryant, Monte Kwinter and David Miller want to ban the legal handguns of target shooters in order to solve the drug-fuelled violence of our street gangs. Toronto police Chief Bill Blair, on the other hand, simply put leather to the street and arrested 60 alleged gang members, confiscated almost as many illegal weapons and grabbed a whole pile of illicit drugs. In the upcoming Ontario election, I'm voting for Chief Blair.
Robert S. Sciuk, Oshawa
Give two thumbs up to the police officers involved in the raid in the Jane-Finch area. Street gangs have to be the leading cause of violence and aggression in our cities. Now I can only hope that, if convicted, our justice system will give them more then a simple slap on the wrist.
Michel Trahan, Verdun, Que.
Show of force terrifies children
June 14
I am really surprised and disgusted at the way mothers, children and animals were treated during the raids in Toronto. This is just another appalling display of violence toward innocent people that has left their bodies, their souls and their homes scarred. As a mother, it breaks my heart to read of the trauma these children endured.
Everyone is a product of their surroundings, and I hope these children will grow up to be champions of peace instead of resorting back to the kind of violence acted out by these gangs and police officers.
Sara Perkins, Hamilton, Ont.
Ripping out roots of violent crime
Editorial, June 14
Going after those roots of crime in a meaningful way was mentioned only in the last few lines of an editorial devoted to the drama of police swarming troubled neighbourhoods. What the police were doing was important and most residents in those areas have reason to be relieved, but for how long?
If there are no changes to the demand for illegal drugs, the nature of those neighbourhoods and the prospects for their residents, confiscating drugs and weapons will be as useful as smashing casks of liquor during Prohibition in the U.S. Even the police on the scene realized that the next generation of gang members was standing around watching the arrests.
Jim Maloy, Barrie, Ont.
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