48 arrested, 24 guns seized in Scarborough gun violence probes

Toronto police arrested 48 people, laid more than 400 charges and seized 24 guns intwo months-long investigations into a rise in gun crime in the city's east end.

Police initiated two "proactive" investigations into gun crime after they"started to see incidents of gun violence trending upwards,"Det. Sgt. Jeremy Hayes of 43 Division saidat a news conference Thursday.

Hayes said police recorded 307 shootings so far this year in 43 Division'sjurisdiction, which covers Scarborough, south of Highway 401,from Brimley Road to the Durham border. That's a 44 per cent increase from this time last year, he said.

The division created Project Community at the start of the year, Hayes said, a collaboration between its major crime unit, neighbourhood community office and a newly-created bail compliance unit. That resulted in 18 arrests, 109 charges laid, three stolen vehicles recovered and sixguns seized, he said.

"However, despite this success, 43 Division was still tracking to have the highest number of firearm offences in the city," Hayes said.

Police then started a new project, dubbed Springboard, focusing on "community safety, disrupting gang violence, getting illegal firearms [and]drugs off streets of Scarborough," he said.

Between April and June, that resulted in 30 more arrests, 297 criminal charges and 18 more guns seized, he said.

Police say shootings in jurisdiction are down this summer

Following the conclusion of both investigations,Hayes said police recorded only two shootings in 43 Division, one in July and another in August.

Of the 48 arrests made, Hayes said 11 were young offenders, 11 were bound by firearm prohibition ordersand 16 are out on bail.

Hayes said the division's new bail compliance unit was created to monitor people released on bail, and police "strongly advocate for detention orders to hold these armed persons in custody once they're arrested."

There have been 29 deaths related to gun crime so far in Toronto this year, Const. Caroline de Kloet said in an email. None of them were in 43 Division, she said.