With new anti-gun & gang grants not coming until spring, difficult decisions loom over Peel police budget

It’s clear that Peel Region needs to do something to address the rising rate of violent crime. According to the violent crime severity index (VCSI), Peel’s rate increased 51 percent between the start of 2014 and the end of 2018, compared to a 27 percent increase for Ontario and 17 percent for the country over the same period. The Pointer previously reported this figure is rising at nearly three-times the rate of the national VCSI. The rise in gun violence in the two cities has played a major role in this increase.

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The province says a cache of $65 million in initiatives announced this year for anti-gun and gang initiatives will not be available for municipal applications until next year.

With very little wiggle room in the regional budget and hints already made that police will need to tighten the purse strings, it leaves councillors pulled in two different directions: respect the property tax payer while addressing a rise in gun and gang crime.

Published December 4, 2019 in The Pointer Brampton and The Pointer Mississauga