Tuesday, June 30, 2009

Wednesday, June 10, 2009

Crazy Busy in the GTA

It was nothing short of a crazy shift last night. I started early for a shooting aboard a streetcar at the Main St. TTC Station and really never stopped for the rest of the night. I went to get some shots and a few clips as a locomotive was moved through the streets of Toronto to a new home at the Roundhouse. Cops who were directing traffic told us they had a rollover on the Gardiner Expressway. I got some shots and on a quiet night this may have made the show but not last night.

 We had a three year old boy wander out of his house in Mississauga only to be hit by a truck on Britannia. The crazy thing is the driver never stopped. Luckily some witnesses caught him for police. The boy was airlifted to Sick Kids and he will survive. Peel Police have charged the driver.
I couldn’t help but notice all those ETF trucks pass me on the way home. After a little investigation I figured out that they were off to wake up some bad guys. I tagged along into the Malton area and watched as they ordered out residents of a house at gun point. I felt sorry for the upstairs tenants, who seemed to get caught up in the action, but they got their targets and I hear that they actually did two locations. Seems the pinch was for “a bunch of armed robberies” so good for you guys. A few less bandits on our streets.

Thursday, June 4, 2009

When is a shooting not a shooting?

When is a shooting not a shooting? When is a homicide not a homicide? The answer is when it happens in Peel Region. I can’t for the life of me understand how information flows in this police force, other to say that it flows very slowly. Last night I responded to the report of a shooting in the area of Shipp Dr. near Square One Mall. I got on scene to find a massive display of yellow tape surrounding a condominium and blocking a large portion of the street. You can always count on Peel to spare nothing when it comes to yellow tape. Just for a laugh I would love to compare the budget for crime tape between Peel and other jurisdictions. The displays and designs they come up with are almost art. It’s not yellow ribbon guys its crime scene tape.



Here is another thing you can always count on in Mississauga and Brampton. When the media shows up the fact that they are on scene will always be broadcast over the police radio system. I don’t know if constables get a prize for being the fist to spot the cameras but you will always hear “Media on Scene!” as soon as you pull your camera from its bag. I fail to understand why this is pertinent information that needs to be shared with all 30 officers on scene. Do they change behavior at this point or is it just a signal for everyone to get ready for the close-up?

A Sergeant came over to talk to me. He informed me that the scene was expanding and that I would need to move back further. They were putting up more yellow tape. Three officers were already pulling large rolls of the stuff from the trunks of cruisers. I asked him if he had any information he could share. He told me that he didn’t and that the Duty Inspector, who was also on scene, was far too busy to talk. I was told to call Media Relations who were eagerly awaiting my call. Some six hours after the shooting, which actually was a homicide, Media Relations was still calling it a “disturbance” and not even confirming that a shooting had taken place. OPP and Metro Police were already broadcasting descriptions of two vehicles wanted in a Peel Region shooting but Peel had not even confirmed to the media and by default to the citizens of Mississauga, that a shooting had even taken place.

This reminds me of the Iraq Government Spokesperson better known as Baghdad Bob claiming that there were no American tanks in Baghdad.