Calls for lawmakers to target guns
By Jenny Yuen And at least one mom of a murdered man insisted that police need to work harder to solve killings.
Family members gathered outside a Regent Park apartment building Sunday afternoon to remember seven murder victims who were all killed in shootings which took place in past years during the month of October.
They’re demanding changes in legislation at both the federal and provincial level to allow for police gun raids without a warrant.
Kemi Omololu-Olunloyo, co-organizer of the Crime Advocacy Media Tour — an effort to increase awareness about gun crime victims — said she knows of someone in her apartment building who has firearms.
“(Police) came to my building for a 911 call. I want that officer to knock on that door and see those guns on the table and be able to seize and arrest the people in there. By the time you get a warrant, the guns have gone,” she said.
Police need to be more diligent in solving these open murder cases, said Debbie Parks, whose son Kareme was murdered in 2006.
“I’ve called for three years straight, once a month,” she said. “The detective has not returned my calls. I’ve been to (police) headquarters and left letters and never had any responses. Nothing happens. I’m sure Kareme’s file is in a banker’s box somewhere — forgotten about.”
Parks was 20 when he was gunned down in a Sunrise Ave. apartment building after a fight broke out.
Other names on the list include Jermaine Derby and Sealand White, two teens who were shot in the elevator of the Whiteside Place apartment building where the women gathered.
There needs to be better support systems for victims’ families, Parks said, describing times when counsellors could only provide a limited amount of time for her. There also needs to be increased witness protection programs.
A few weeks ago, Prime Minister Stephen Harper announced a new justice bill, which includes tougher sentences for drug traffickers, child sexual predators and repeat violent young offenders.
Staff-Insp. Mark Saunders, of the homicide bureau, said the police are doing everything they can, but investigators are dependent on tips from the public when it comes to solving many murders.
“I can’t judge people on how they feel about these situations,” he said, referring to Parks’ comment about her son being forgotten. “A lot of cases are frustrating because a lot of these homicide cases aren’t committed in a vacuum, they’re committed out in public. The slide rule here is, if you assist us with these murder investigations, we will solve them.”
Calls for lawmakers to target guns
