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SIKH VIRSA ARTICLE (AUGUST 2019)

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Preventive measures take centre stage<br />

at N.E. community safety town hall<br />

Humaira Falak is becoming<br />

increasingly insecure and more<br />

protective of her two daughters<br />

since an increase in violence<br />

started plaguing her<br />

neighbourhood of Falconridge<br />

in April.<br />

Since the first two shooting<br />

deaths there have been two<br />

more people killed and two others<br />

injured in shootings in<br />

Calgary’s northeast.<br />

Statistically, the region has<br />

become the most violent in<br />

Calgary, accounting for 23 of<br />

the city’s 53 shootings so far<br />

this year.<br />

“I’ve been in Canada for six<br />

years and this hasn’t happened<br />

but now it’s happening<br />

in my neighbourhood,” Falak<br />

said. “I live and work in this area<br />

and am a single mother so obviously<br />

I’m very concerned.”<br />

Falak was among more than<br />

100 members of the public who<br />

attended Coun. George<br />

Chahal’s public safety and<br />

community violence town hall<br />

meeting on Tuesday night at<br />

the Genesis Centre in<br />

Falconridge.<br />

The event served as a<br />

question-and-answer between<br />

residents, members of the<br />

Calgary Police Service, the<br />

Calgary Board of Education,<br />

MLAs and community leaders<br />

in response to growing concerns<br />

over violence in the area.<br />

Prevention was on top of the<br />

list of priorities, with speakers<br />

urging the community to “see<br />

something, say something” in<br />

an effort to increase arrests and<br />

convictions of violent offenders.<br />

“I do support the police 100<br />

per cent in the work they do<br />

but I think the community can<br />

also step up and speak up,”<br />

resident Annette Bandcroft<br />

said before the meeting.<br />

Bandcroft has been living in<br />

Falconridge since the 1980s and<br />

remembers when gangs were<br />

running rampant in the northeast<br />

30 years ago.<br />

“There needs to be a zero-tolerance<br />

policy . . . I mean, we live<br />

in a country where there are very<br />

strict weapons laws, so where are<br />

the guns coming from?<br />

“For me, it’s all about following<br />

the money,” she said. “I understand<br />

that sometimes you<br />

need to get the little fish but we<br />

need the big fish.” Questions<br />

ranged from inquiring about how<br />

to seek help and support if<br />

you’re aware of a crime or involved<br />

in one, to non-profits<br />

getting more funding from bigger<br />

organizations to help in the<br />

fight against crime.<br />

Overwhelmingly, the speakers<br />

urged parents to be involved<br />

in their children’s lives, arguing<br />

communication and connection<br />

are the best chances of preventing<br />

children and teens from engaging<br />

in criminal behaviour.<br />

Amid ongoing budget talks at<br />

city council, Gurinder Brar is worried<br />

that a lack of transparency<br />

will lead to cuts to very important<br />

services, such as police.<br />

“All the politicians have a<br />

simple tag line, which is ‘we are<br />

not cutting the front-line services’,<br />

but what services they are<br />

cutting?” Brar asked. “Our<br />

money should have been spent<br />

on youth, combating these<br />

crimes, & any money being spent<br />

on the arena should be spent on<br />

the communities.” (The End)<br />

Sikh Virsa, Calgary 76. August, <strong>2019</strong>

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