ETOBICOKE RESIDENTS DEMAND CRIME END

One day after a shooting and a beating occurred in their area,
residents of an Etobicoke neighbourhood were vowing to band together
to tackle the teen gangs, drugs and prostitution they say have left
their community paralyzed.

Gathered in small clusters in a parkette on Garnett Janes Road near
Lake Shore Boulevard and Islington Avenue late yesterday afternoon,
residents demanded more police presence in the area.

On one side of the park, a church group hosted its weekly barbecue
fundraiser, but not many customers showed up. The parkette -- home to
a rainbow-hued playground and a popular basketball court -- was the
scene of a shooting early Tuesday evening, when three gunshots put a
22-year-old in hospital and sent children scurrying for cover.

Derek Serianni was arriving home from a stroll with his wife and
five-month-old baby when the shots were fired. He believes he was the
first resident to call 911.

"It was like right out of a movie," Mr. Serianni said of the shooting.
"Everyone was running and yelling. Fathers and mothers were grabbing
their children; older siblings were grabbing their sisters and brothers."

Mr. Serianni estimated that there were nearly 50 people in the
parkette at the time -- many of them children. Some children hid in
his garage afterward, and he urged them to talk to police about what
they had seen. "They kept saying 'They're going to kill us if we
talk.' The kids are just so scared."

Residents say that attitude is part of the community's problem --
people are afraid to report crime.

Minutes after the shooting, an 18-year-old was beaten with a
collapsible scooter, one block north of the park. Police believe the
incidents may be related.

"It's plainclothes foot patrols that are needed," said Mark Selkirk,
the president of a condominium association on the southern edge of the
parkette. "There is no substitute for a police presence on the ground."

Many condominium residents are talking about investing in private
security, he said.

Mr. Selkirk was one of a hundred people who attended a heated
community meeting hosted by Police Chief Julian Fantino on Monday night.

Residents voiced their concern about plans to close the former 21
Division station on Islington Avenue, which has operated as a
substation for 22 Division since late 2001. The police service's
anti-corruption squad is to take over the building, and residents fear
a decreased police presence.

Dan, who did not give his last name, has lived in the apartment
complex on the north side of the parkette for almost 12 years.

He said his wife fears walking past it to catch her early-morning
streetcar to work.

Drug-dealing has been rampant in the area, as well as prostitution, he
said.

"I want to move out of this snake pit. There has been a steady decline
around here for the last two or three years."

He said he frequently encounters drug addicts on the steps of his
apartment building.

"My wife is worried about someone driving by and trying to snatch her
as she waits for the streetcar because they think she is a hooker.

"Am I supposed to escort my wife to the streetcar with a baseball bat?"