Latest news with #youthgangs
National Post
6 days ago
- National Post
Jamie Sarkonak: Supreme Court puts gangster youth before public safety
Article content The court went on to add that this should be a nuanced inquiry that doesn't involve stereotyping or racial discounts — even though that's exactly what's going on here. The racial dimension is most helpful to the groups who are most abundant in the youth gang population: Black youth (25 per cent of underage gangsters, according to the most recent data, found in a 2002 Public Safety report), followed by First Nations (21 per cent). Article content Altogether, this decision is most helpful for Canada's most brazenly dangerous, out-of-control youth: the ones who have already been inducted into gang life, whose parents are absent or even supportive of their actions, who live to glorify violence and who are unlikely to be rehabilitated. The ones who swarm, stab and shoot others in public, with no regard for human life, and the ones who brag online about killing harmless elderly ladies on the way home from the grocery store. Article content It's also an additional incentive for gangs to recruit minors into their ranks — something they already do to minimize legal risk, and are sure to do more now that adult sentencing has likely been relegated to history. Article content Article content Altogether, the killer of Shahnaz Pestonji is exactly the kind of person that the majority of the Supreme Court set out to protect from facing the deserved consequences. The boy is Black, 14 and likely of a rough and disadvantaged background given his actions. Based on his actions, he appears to be lacking in sophistication and revelling somewhat in bravado, having appeared to have to participated in an interview — while on the run from police — to tell his side of the story: 'She didn't give me the keys so I yoked her,' explained the subject, adding that he 'wasn't even scared.' Article content The interviewee expressed regret in killing the woman ('Fam … that was an idiot thing. Cause, I can't lie, after I think about it, she didn't deserve it … Low key I would not have done that stuff.'), but overall, it was clear he was on a completely different moral plane than the average Canadian. Article content
CBC
04-07-2025
- CBC
Toronto police report fewer youth gun arrests, but worry gang recruitment online rising
Online youth gang recruitment is a growing concern, Toronto police say 3 minutes ago Duration 3:03 Social Sharing Toronto police say youth firearm arrests have declined so far this year — a welcome shift after last year's spike, though major concerns remain, including the rise of gang recruitment on social media. So far in 2025, police say they have made 83 youth firearm arrests, compared to 105 over the same period last year — a drop of 21 per cent. However, Insp. Paul Krawczyk isn't celebrating just yet. This is still the second-worst year for such arrests in the last five, he told CBC Toronto. "I worry that [last year] is not just a spike, but obviously I don't have a crystal ball." Police say there were 175 total youth firearm arrests in 2024, which was 59 per cent higher than the 110 arrests made in 2023. In 2022, there were 94 youth firearm arrests, and 83 in 2021. But while arrests are down so far this year, there have already been a number of high profile crimes involving teens. In January, Toronto police arrested and charged four teenage boys they believed were behind a carjacking and two robberies that month. Three teens were charged with first-degree murder in connection with a fatal double shooting in Toronto's Riverdale neighbourhood in April, and last month, a 15-year-old boy was killed in a shooting in York. WATCH | Toronto's youth firearm arrests spiked in 2024, up 161% in 2 years: Spike in Toronto gun violence partly due to gangs recruiting kids, police say 12 months ago Duration 4:02 Toronto police say a spike in gun violence this year is a city-wide priority. Over the past six days, there have been seven shootings in the city — including two that were fatal. As youth firearm arrests in particular skyrocket, police say an escalating amount of the violence is coming from gangs recruiting children. CBC's Chris Glover has more. Krawczyk says police are a major partner in FOCUS Toronto — a program made up of several agencies and community groups that come together to help prevent crime and connect with youth in vulnerable communities. The hope, he says, is to help stop gang recruitment before it happens. "I do worry that youth, through social media, through the apps on their phones, are getting contracted to do some of these shootings," said Krawczyk. "A lot of money is being thrown at them, and we may not see a decrease without the combined efforts of everyone." Ex-gang leader works to curb recruitment on social media Those efforts include community programs like the One by One Movement. Founder Marcell Wilson says the non-profit organization is focused on decreasing acts of violence and connecting with vulnerable youth before they're potentially exposed to crime. A former gang leader-turned-anti-violence advocate, Wilson says the issue of vulnerable young people being recruited on social media platforms by gang members is underaddressed. His organization has a program dedicated to the issue, targeted at parents and community members. It starts with the basics of social media and how the platforms work, and goes into some of the language youth use that their parents may be unfamiliar with, aiming to close the generational disconnect when it comes to what young people are doing on their phones. "It's about teaching them the nuances of the platforms being used and even sometimes language," Wilson said. "You'll have a parent who doesn't understand the language being used and because of that, they have no idea their children are involved in certain activities." Police deploying more resources to certain areas Krawczyk says to deal with gun violence overall, police have been strategically deploying more resources to specific areas, based on crime data across Toronto. "Clearly if police are out there, you know it's going to make a difference and deter some of these shootings and discharges," he said. Last month, the city announced an extra $5 million in funding for anti-violence programs for young people. Mayor Olivia Chow said the safety plan will help 3,000 young people and more than 500 families participate in summer recreation and youth violence prevention programs. Initiatives like that are applauded by Toronto police and organizations like Wilson's, but both say parents should also keep on top of their kids' social media presence, and tech giants should also put more resources into combatting youth crime on their platforms. "There's not enough cohesion between the different entities, between the community, the organizations, law enforcement and the decision makers," Wilson said.
Daily Mail
14-06-2025
- Daily Mail
EXCLUSIVE How Ballymena boiled over: After horrifying riots sparked by two Romanians being accused of raping teen, RICHARD KAY meets the victims - and locals furious at 'endless stream of migrants' they had no say over
By daylight, Ballymena, a town of 30,000 people in rural County Antrim, bustles with commerce and activity: farmers taking livestock to slaughter while pedestrians cheer on a peloton of cyclists on a training run up the Galgorm Road. But as dusk falls, the bucolic mood is transformed into something rather more sinister. Marauding gangs of masked youths stalk the streets, barricades are set ablaze and the acrid smell of burning tyres fills the night air.
ABC News
27-05-2025
- General
- ABC News
Seven males arrested and charged over alleged planned gang fight at Northland shopping centre in Melbourne
Police have arrested and charged a total of seven people involved in an allegedly planned gang fight with machetes at Northland Shopping Centre in Melbourne's north on Sunday. Detectives say they initially believed eight people were involved in the incident that broke out just after 2:30pm on Sunday at the Preston centre's food court, but have since clarified that seven people were involved. "Police will allege this was a planned fight between two rival youth gangs, with thankfully no innocent bystanders hurt," a police statement said. "Those arrested were all known gang members and known to police." Frightened shoppers fled Northland during the incident amid instructions to evacuate. Security camera footage indicates the incident lasted for approximately 2 minutes, with around 40 local police and specialist units, including the Public Order Response Team and Critical Incident Response Team arriving within minutes, police said. Since the incident, the state government has fast-tracked a ban on the sale of machetes, which takes effect from midday on Wednesday. Two teenage males — aged 15 and 16 — who police allege to be the primary offenders, were arrested at the scene. The pair have been charged with affray, intentionally causing injury, possessing a controlled weapon and using a controlled weapon. They are in custody and have faced a children's court. Two men — an 18-year-old from Bundoora and a 20-year-old from Thornbury — were arrested on Tuesday and will both face Heidleberg Magistrates' Court on July 15 charged with affray and intentionally causing injury. An 18-year-old Thornhill Park man was arrested on Tuesday night, charged with affray and weapons offences and is scheduled to face Heidelberg Magistrates' Court today. Two other young males were arrested on Wednesday morning: an 18-year-old from Derrimut charged with affray and intentionally causing injury, and a 21-year-old from Kew who was treated in hospital for non-life-threatening head injuries from the incident. The Kew man was charged with affray, intentionally causing injury and committing an indictable offence while on bail. Police said officers would be patrolling the Northland shopping centre area over the coming days and weekends and that local police would work with the centre's management and retail staff to reassure them. "Victoria Police continues to relentlessly pursue, disrupt and dismantle the state's worst youth gangs as part of Operation Alliance," police said. Police say in the past year, Operation Alliance has led to the arrest of 473 youth gang members a combined 1,731 times, with more than 4,400 charges laid in relation to these matters.
BBC News
26-05-2025
- BBC News
Australia fast-tracks first-ever machete ban after weekend attack
A fight involving machetes at a Melbourne shopping centre has prompted an Australian state to fast-track the country's first-ever ban on the weapon's sale. The ban - to start in Victoria this Wednesday, instead of September - comes after two gangs attacked each other at Northland shopping centre in Preston on Sunday afternoon. A man, 20, remains in hospital in a serious premier said the ban will "choke the supply", adding "the community shouldn't have to deal with these weapons in their shopping centres - neither should our police".Two boys, aged 16 and 15, were on Sunday charged with affray, intentionally causing injury, and possession and use of a controlled weapon. On Monday, police said two men, aged 20 and 18, had also been arrested and were being interviewed. All four people were known to police previously. "This was a planned fight between two rival youth gangs with no innocent bystanders hurt," said deputy commissioner David Clayton. "Fortunately, these events are not very commonplace in Victoria," he said, adding that youth knife crime is "rare" but "frightening".Clayton said one in 10 knife crimes in the state are committed by young people, and often happen in public places. Emergency services were called to the shopping centre in Preston - about 11km (seven miles) north of Melbourne - just after 14:30 local time (05:30 BST) on Sunday after reports of up to 10 people fighting. Police said the investigation "remains ongoing" and more arrests are expected. Three of the four machetes used during the attack have been seized, police Premier Jacinta Allan described the attack as "appalling". "We must never let the places where we gather - where families come together, to meet, to shop, to enjoy the peace of their weekend - become the places we fear," Allan said at a press conference. "It took the United Kingdom 18 months to bring about a ban on machetes and we are moving to do it within six months," she March, Victoria announced legislative changes to its Control of Weapons Act, making it illegal to sell or possess machetes, with the new law to start in September. The ban covers machetes, which are broadly defined as "knives with a cutting blade longer than 20cm". It does not include knives primarily used in kitchens.A three-month amnesty from September means anyone with a machete can place them in specially designated boxes at police stations. Police also thanked a man who held down one of the alleged offenders until police arrived, saying he "performed an outstanding job", but added they don't encourage the public to become involved in such incidents. In England and Wales, a ban on "zombie-style" knives and machetes was introduced last September, making it illegal to own, make, transport or sell a wide range of "statement" knives favoured by criminal gangs.
