Here’s How Many Shootings Have Happened in Brampton and Mississauga This Year

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Published October 6, 2018 at 12:52 am

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While Brampton and Mississauga remain very safe places to live, this summer has been an unusually violent one, especially in terms of gun crime.

And police and municipal leaders are hoping to reverse the trend.

“Violent crime has been on the rise in the GTA. We hear it in the news, see it on social media and talk about it with others in the community,” Peel Regional Police said in a recent news release.

“This spike in violent crime has not gone unnoticed by Chief Jennifer Evans who is reminded of this daily by the number of firearm casings she keeps on her desk, representing shots fired from 2014 to present day.”

Police say that, so far this year, officers have responded to over 178,154 calls for service in the first nine months of 2018.

In that time there were 86 shooting occurrences, police say.

Police say they have worked to get guns off the streets of Brampton and Mississauga, adding that officers have seized over over 306 firearms and have laid 1,303 firearm related charges.

“We aren’t just collecting shell casings in Peel. I want the community to know that each day Peel Regional Police officers are working extremely hard to ensure their safety” police say.

Police say they’re taking a multi-pronged approach to the issue that involves arresting suspects and attempting to prevent crime.

“Our layered approach starts with our front line officers who work hard day in and day out, responding to calls, arresting people, laying charges and taking weapons off the street,” police say.  

“We have officers working in our Community Mobilization Teams (CMT) forming relationships within our communities which helps identify problems, lawlessness and criminal activity, and helps us solve crime. We also have officers who are assigned to the Strategic Tactical Enforcement Patrol (STEP) unit which targets gangs and their activity. With help from the community, STEP officers identify gang members and patrol those neighbourhoods to ensure gangs don’t take a foothold in the area.”

Police say they also use analytics to identify peak times where violent crime, including gun crime is occurring.

“This information is then used to deploy resources accordingly and work with those communities together to increase safety.”

Police say they need the community involved in order to address rising crime rates.

“Our goal is to eliminate violent crime however we can’t do this alone.” says Chief Evans.

“We urge the community to contact us when they see criminal or suspicious activity taking place. We understand that not all community members are comfortable contacting police directly so, we want to remind citizens that Crime Stoppers is an excellent option. With Crime Stoppers you can report crimes or provide tips to assist in solving crimes, while remaining completely anonymous. You may even be eligible for a cash reward.”

Residents can report information anonymously by calling Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-TIPS (8477) or by visiting peelcrimestoppers.ca.

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