Gun violence bigger issue than security, prof says
Anti-gun violence advocates call for action after violent Toronto weekend
A remarkably violent weekend in Toronto has left communities on edge and anti-gun violence advocates calling for action. CBC’s Tyler Cheese has the details — and reaction.
We heard from an expert this morning who studies disaster and emergency preparedness. Jack Rozdilsky, an associate professor of disaster and emergency management at York University, says while the city and police should be looking for any possible improvements to security, open-air festivals cannot be made perfectly safe, and the focus should be on dealing with the root causes of gun violence.
“The point is, the location is not the cause of the violence — period,” Rozdilsky said. “A simple venue change for public mass festivals is not going to address the gun violence problem.”
While metal detectors and bag checks are effective measures at indoor events, Rozdilsky said they don’t work as well at street festivals, which have several entrance and exit points in the forms of businesses, residential buildings, other roads and alleyways.
Street festivals are known as “soft targets” for criminal activity, Rozdilsky said. That’s where the top priority is the celebration at the festival itself, not airtight security.
“Basically, we try the best we can to make things as safe as we can,” he told CBC Radio’s Metro Morning today, noting there was a lot of visible security at Saturday’s festival. “The [amount] of adaptations to make a perfectly safe environment would change the entire street.”
