Retooling the war on gangs and guns

Retooling the war on gangs and guns
125 suspects arrested in latest operation, but police vow to focus on worst offenders
April 02, 2009
BETSY POWELL
AND MICHELE HENRY
STAFF REPORTERS

It is almost a springtime ritual.

Hundreds of police officers from various forces fan out in pre-drawn raids across Greater Toronto and beyond to execute search warrants, arrest scores of people and lay dozens of drugs, weapons and gangsterism charges after a massive investigation that has a catchy name – in this case, Project Fusion.

A news conference follows with pronouncements made about the fruits of the law enforcement project, including the 40 guns seized yesterday, which police said will deal a "significant blow" to the firearm supply in east Toronto and make the streets safer.

As well, millions of dollars' worth of illicit narcotics, including cocaine and marijuana and ecstasy, were seized during several months of investigation, not just yesterday.

The Toronto Police Service says this time it is trying to do some things differently in its latest salvo in the war on guns and gangs.

Police Chief Bill Blair said that as the accused move through the courts a more streamlined process is planned aimed at avoiding some of the problems of previous projects that have targeted street gangs.

"The people who we arrested ... some of them are charged with less serious criminal offences so some of those people have been released or will be released over the next few days. Our intent is to ensure the detention of those people who pose a risk," Blair told a news conference at police headquarters.

In June 2007, Superior Court Judge Ian Nordheimer blasted the Crown for delays in bail hearings for nine accused street gang members caught in the Project Kryptic sweep. To show his disapproval of the delays, Nordheimer ordered the Crown to pay each of the defendants' court costs of $2,000.

Blair would not specify how many of those busted yesterday "pose a risk," but said 46 of the 125 people arrested are alleged to be members and associates of two gangs in southeast Toronto – the MNE, named for the geographic area of Markham Rd. and Eglinton Ave. E., and 400 Crew, named for the Toronto Community Housing buildings at 400 McCowan Rd.

In addition, police arrested others belonging to an "overarching criminal enterprise that supplies weapons and drugs to the street gangs." Blair said that group does not have a name but "they have been extremely well organized and sophisticated in their operation."

Police did not release any names of the people arrested yesterday.

One of the sharpest criticisms of previous projects has been that police arrest too many people and lay too many charges, many of them not serious, putting additional strain on an already overburdened court system.

Critics have also condemned such projects for being essentially public relations exercises that generate a lot of media attention because of the sheer numbers of charges laid.

"Usually these types of cases start with the police boasting about countless arrests only to see the numbers scale down drastically in the days and months leading up to trial," defence lawyer Daniel Brown said yesterday.

Yesterday's sweep did not zero in on a particular place or neighbourhood, unlike previous projects such as Kryptic, which was aimed at dismantling the Driftwood Crips in the Jane and Finch community, or Project Flicker, which targeted the Ardwick Bloods in the Islington and Finch area.

Project Fusion dovetailed two separate investigations by Toronto and Durham Region police that had, as a common "focal point," a place called Supreme Auto Group, which was identified as a "significant distribution point for firearms and for controlled substances," said Durham Regional Police Supt. Jim Douglas, who also attended the news conference.

Other police leaders in attendance acknowledged this project will not end the existence of street gangs and the associated violence.