Brantford police have reaffirmed their commitment to a task force on gun-related crime amid “a substantial increase” in gun violence over the past 15 weeks.
The service originally announced the formation of the squad on April 8 after the city endured a marked increase in gun-related incidents.
So far in 2019, Brantford police have dealt with 16 reported incidents involving firearms, eight of those were shootings, resulting in seven victims, and one homicide since January.
Those numbers put the city on track for a total which would rival larger nearby communities like Waterloo Region whose police service reported 31 incidents involving firearms in all of 2018.
Brantford is about one-fifth the size of Waterloo in population. The 2016 census put the population of Brantford at around 97,000 while the Region of Waterloo is about 535,000.
READ MORE: Hamilton police create gun violence task force in response to shooting increase
Cst. Shane Seibert told Global News that the additions to the task force will be a pool of resources from existing units within the service.
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Investigators say the all the recent incidents involved individuals from Brantford and were not random as those involved are believed to be “entrenched within criminal and high-risk lifestyles.”
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The launch of a gun violence task force is not new to many Ontario communities as Hamilton launched a similar task force earlier this year made up of 18 full-time officers. Meanwhile, both federal and provincial governments have revealed financial support for police services fighting both guns-and-gang violence with Ottawa pitching in $11-million over five years and Queen’s Park dropping $16.4 million over the next two years.
READ MORE: Minister Bill Blair announces $11 million to support Ontario’s guns-and-gang reduction strategy
In the announcement, Brantford Police Chief Geoff Nelson said the gun violence issue is not just limited to Toronto and Ottawa, but the whole province, and said a primary responsibility of the new task force will be communication with other Ontario police services.
“The creation of this Task Force was absolutely necessary. Elimination of gun violence in our city requires a properly resourced and specialized unit to focus its efforts exclusively on those individuals who pose a threat to the safety of our community,” said Nelson. “The Task Force will not only focus on threats that exist within Brantford, it will work collaboratively with Gun and Gang Task Forces in other communities.”
Nelson’s announcement came on the same day the prime suspect in a Wednesday morning Brantford shooting was arrested by Toronto police during an hours-long standoff.
READ MORE: Toronto police apprehend suspect after standoff ends peacefully in city’s west end
Chad Wray-McCombs, 29, was arrested following a peaceful surrender and faces charges of aggravated assault, assault with a weapon and a variety of weapons-related offences.
WATCH: Minister Blair announces $11 million to support Ontario’s guns and gang reduction strategy
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