Police chief holds Danzig Street town hall

TORONTO, Ont. – Toronto Police Chief Bill Blair reassured residents rocked by a summer shooting that the east-end neighbourhood deserves police protection, at a town hall on Danzig Street Thursday evening.

Dozens of residents attended the town hall near the site of the mass shooting that killed two young people and wounded 23 others, including a toddler.

Blair told residents that a safe neighbourhood is a shared responsibility, adding that their objective is to ensure residents feel safe.

He said police cannot expect witnesses to speak if they feel unsafe.

When residents were invited to address questions at the chief, some took him to task, questioning the longevity of police protection and whether enough is being done in the neighbourhood, marred by the city’s worst mass shooting.

“It’s not an easy answer,” one woman told 680News.

“You don’t just snap fingers and everything is corrected.”

“However, I feel like [Blair] still doesn’t know the steps to move forward,” she said.

Blair said he was not surprised by the tough questions.

“As a matter of fact, I’m grateful that people came forward.”

“It’s not an easy thing to do,” he said.

The town hall comes two days after police linked the fatal community barbecue shooting to another east-end homicide and a spate of shootings in the city, spanning from September of last year to a notorious Toronto street gang.

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