Calgarians near the shooting on late Sunday afternoon at South Trail Crossing were left in disbelief that there could be a daylight shooting in the city’s suburbs.
“Very shaken up. I haven’t had an experience like this, never seen it before, so it’s definitely scary,” resident Jess Reaume told Global News.
As of mid-November, shootings in the city this year were behind last year’s pace, but were consistent with the five-year average.
“Any time there is gun violence in our city, it is cause for concern. And we take this very seriously,” Mayor Jyoti Gondek said on Monday.
The mayor said city council has been reassured that the Calgary Police Service takes gun crime in the city “very seriously.”
“We understand that people feel unsafe, especially when things like this are happening in public spaces. So I would say together with the Calgary Police Service and Calgary Police Commission, we remain committed to understanding what’s behind these incidents and how we can keep Calgary safe for everyone.”
The Sunday shooting outside an Earls restaurant followed stabbings at Market Mall in the city’s northwest and CrossIron Mills in nearby Balzac, Alta. on Black Friday.
Mount Royal University criminologist Doug King said fear of crime is an observed effect. When people feel safe in or near their home but don’t feel safe in the city at large, that’s known as the “aura effect” of the fear of crime.
“That aura effect is real. People’s fear of crime is real, and it has to be addressed by the police service and others in terms of, what’s being done to interdict all of these types of offences,” King said.
King gave kudos to CPS Chief Mark Neufeld when he holds press conferences to answer questions about crime in the city following very public shootings.
Neufeld was not available for comment on Monday.
On Nov. 16, Neufeld joined Global News Morning to talk about a string of shootings earlier in the month.
“People rightfully ask, is there a gang war or something going on? And I would tell you that, no, that’s not what’s going on in this city right now. But this is not to downplay what is going on,” Neufeld said at the time.
The police chief said about a quarter of the city’s shootings this year have been attributed to organized crime.
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“There’s been a number of investments by the police service and reorganization to make sure that we are processing firearms faster when we seize them,” Neufeld said on Nov. 16. “We’re making connections and getting investigative leads faster than we were before so that we can take action in relation to shootings as they happen.”
On Monday, a CPS spokesperson said no arrests have been made in any of the recent shootings.
King said he’d like to see the police chief get back in front of the cameras again, to address Calgarians’ fear of violent crime and to explain what police are doing about it.
“I think he needs to do more of that. I think he probably knows he’s going to have to do more of that,” the criminologist said. “I’ve been around this business now for about 35 years, and when fear of crime gets raised, it never gets back to where it once was, so now is the time to act.”
The Calgary Police Commission meets on Wednesday and will get reports on crime trends from CPS. The civilian oversight body will also learn more about what police are doing about safety along the transit system.
— with files from Craig Momney, Global News
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