Taking justice into our own hands?
The wrong kind of guardian angels
JESSE BEACH, VOLUNTEER STAFF
Our fears are over. My claims, though pointed and brilliant, have been disproved (Speaking for the voiceless, Sept. 19). A 49-year-old man was arrested on Monday, Sept. 17 in connection with the July slaying of sex-trade worker Aynsley Aurora Kinch. The arrest, as Winnipeg police were quick to point out, virtually eliminates the speculation that a serial killer could be amongst us. Far from being comforted by this notion, however, I find myself equally disturbed at the prospect of the numerous murderers that continue to walk the streets of Winnipeg.
While it is encouraging that the police were able to make this arrest (given the difficulty of charging someone for a sex-trade related crime because of the illegal, underground nature of the business), I am horrified at the incomprehensible levels of crime which are maxing out the resources of the Winnipeg police department.
On the Friday night before police made the arrest in connection with the Kinch murder, a succession of violent crimes occurred that took the lives of two men, while critically injuring several others. This rapid succession of violence, which quickly overloaded the police service, began Friday, Sept. 14 with the stabbing of a 19-year-old woman. Police arrested a 40-year-old woman for the crime, who is reportedly related to the victim, though police refuse to say how. The victim’s status had been upgraded to stable. Police also arrested a 24-year-old woman for stabbing another woman Friday night; the victim was treated and sent home. The following morning saw a rapid succession of violence beginning with the shooting of an underage youth.
5:15 a.m.: Shotgun blasts rang out in the 500 block of College Avenue, waking nearby neighbours. A 16-year-old was taken to hospital in stable condition with non-life-threatening injuries to his upper body, police said.
6:30 a.m.: A man was found dead outside a residence in the 400 block of Manitoba Avenue. The man’s identity in unknown and police have asked for the public’s help in identifying the victim.
7:30 a.m.: A 33-year-old man was found unconscious next to a dumpster on the 500 block of Spence Street. The man died soon after being brought to the hospital in critical condition.
8 a.m.: Another man was shot in a residence located in the 100 block of Inkster Boulevard. He was taken to the hospital in critical condition but has been upgraded to stable.
The two males found mortally wounded within an hour of each other in different neighbourhoods were victims of homicides, say Winnipeg police. They are Winnipeg’s 19th and 20th homicides of 2007. Compare that to the 13 homicides which had occurred by Sept. 9, 2006 and you have a 54 per cent increase in homicides over last year. Our tiny city is slowly deteriorating into a cesspool of crime and violence.
Our recent crime wave is of such unfathomable proportions that we are attracting the attention of the American vigilante group, Guardian Angels. Founded in 1979 by Curtis Sliwa, the Guardian Angels are a volunteer band of unarmed citizen crime patrollers who combat violence on New York City subways. Sliwa had visited Winnipeg in July 2006 and said his group might start a chapter here. Following the multiple deaths, shootings, and stabbings which have occurred as of late, Silwa believes that it may be time to give our city another look. Sliwa has stated to the Winnipeg Free Press that he will visit our city between Thanksgiving and Christmas to introduce the idea to city officials, Winnipeg police, and community groups. The Guardian Angels do not merely patrol streets, and neighborhoods, but they also provide education programs and workshops for schools and businesses.
Basically, the potential arrival of the Guardians Angels does not only allow a vigilante organization to stalk the streets in search of violence, it also is the acceptance of a new lifestyle. If we allow these men and women to come to our city and train members of our community to search for crime and violence in the conscious attempt to intervene, we are admitting that our city has deteriorated to the point where we cannot save it ourselves. By confronting the crime in our city with this extreme reaction, we accept the fact that we are no longer attempting to prevent crime.
In a sense, Sliwa is right. The violence in our city, particularily the events of the weekend in mind, is not an aberration. This weekend may have caught our attention, but the murders, shootings, and stabbings that occurred are taking place virtually every day. It is not just members of the sex trade and victims of gang violence, it’s everyday regular people being victimized, and we need to take action. I do not and will not believe that we will ever require the services of Sliwa and the Guardian Angels, but the city needs to start increasing the level of resources it puts into our protection. This could be anything from increasing the level of funding to the Winnipeg police, to humanitarian programs centred in inner city schools, trying to dry up the problem at its source. The future of our city is in our hands . . . please do not hand it over to violence, whether that violence stems from gangs or vigilantes.
Jesse Beach is a fourth-year English student at the University of Manitoba.
