The Province is pledging $75 million over 3 years to crack down on the flow of cross-border guns and drugs.
Today Premier Doug Ford said Ontario’s gun and gang violence hasn’t been slowed by the pandemic.
“It’s not just drugs that are a problem – guns remain a huge problem for communities all across Ontario,” said the Premier. “In fact, almost half of all firearm traffickers are street gangs. These are scary numbers and it shows the size of this challenge faced when it comes to combatting these criminals.”
Building on Ontario’s Guns, Gangs and Violence Reduction Strategy, this three-year investment will include:
- Establishing the Office of Illicit Drug Intelligence to disrupt the drug supply chain coming into Ontario and provide enhanced investigative support to identify and prevent cross-border drugs, guns, and human trafficking
- Enhancing support for gun and gang specialized investigations to assist with firearms analysis and tracing enforcement, allowing for the timely identification of gun traffickers, their networks, and their smuggling routes
- Creating a new Gun and Gang Mobile Prosecution Unit to prosecute major gun and gang cases from the moment charges are laid in priority regions across the province
- Creating a provincewide joint analytics working group to enhance the ability among police services to collect and share information on gun and gang activity and trends
- Increasing the presence of Border Enforcement Security Teams in Ontario to curtail the flow of illegal firearms entering the province
- Supporting provincial Joint Forces Operations to formalize collaboration among jurisdictions in response to information and intelligence
- Creating a provincial database of gun and gang activity to ensure consistency in the classification of relevant data and enhance information flow to combat gangs.
“These strategic initiatives will help to effectively disrupt gang activities and the revenue streams that fund criminal activity including drug and human trafficking,” adds Solicitor General Sylvia Jones. “There is no place for gun violence or other illegal activity anywhere in our province and we will provide our frontline officers with the tools they need to keep our communities safe.”
“As investigations and prosecutions of dangerous criminal networks grow increasingly complex, we are taking measures to ensure police and prosecutors have the tools and resources they need to hold offenders accountable and stand up for victims as they seek justice,” says Attorney General Doug Downey. “Mobilizing expert experienced Crown Prosecutors, the new Gun and Gang Mobile Prosecution Unit will address complex cases in priority regions across Ontario.”
With this investment, $187 million has been provided to combat gun and gang violence as part of the Guns, Gangs, and Violence Reduction Strategy across the province since 2018.
Photo via Ford Nation Twitter
Ontario has seen a sharp increase of opioids & methamphetamine trafficked by street gangs. Whether it’s guns or drugs, we're cracking down on these crimes and the thugs who commit them.
We will continue to hold criminals accountable and do whatever it takes to protect Ontarians. pic.twitter.com/9TGoYTGN6D
— Doug Ford (@fordnation) November 16, 2021