A mode of rap music identified for its violent lyrics posted on-line by rival gangs is fuelling gang-related homicides in Canada, says an skilled with a company dedicated to elevating consciousness about gang points and youth violence.
Final 12 months, Canada had the very best variety of gang-related homicides on report, in keeping with Statistics Canada data launched Nov. 21.
Canada’s murder price general rose by 3 p.c in 2021 in contrast with 2020, to 2.06 homicides per 100,000 individuals, with the best will increase in Ontario (to 277 homicides) and British Columbia (to 125 homicides). Nationwide, police companies reported 788 homicides, with 184, practically 1 / 4 of them, gang-related.
“I can inform you proper now social media is fuelling a whole lot of the violence,” mentioned Andrew Hammond, vp of the non-profit Ontario Gang Investigators Association (ONGIA), in an interview with The Epoch Occasions.
Hammond mentioned individuals from rival gangs submit freestyle rap movies about one another on YouTube, which inflames tensions.
“It’s referred to as ‘drill music,’” he mentioned. “It began in Chicago, and our youngsters in Toronto are following go well with fairly a bit.”
The proof that drill music—”drill” being avenue slang denoting the usage of computerized weapons—is inflicting a lot of the violence is anecdotal as of but, Hammond mentioned. However he has seen so many circumstances the place violence adopted proper on the heels of a social media submit that he’s pretty satisfied it’s the trigger.
“I wouldn’t say the vast majority of shootings in Southern Ontario is expounded to medicine—it’s associated to beef. It’s associated to on-line disrespect.”
Gary Mauser, a tutorial and senior fellow on the Fraser Institute who has served as an skilled witness on felony justice points within the Senate, says what Hammond is observing “is no surprise.”
“Most gang members—and wannabes—are younger males who react childishly to perceived slights or imagined insults to their egos,” he informed The Epoch Occasions.
Medication as Root Trigger
Drill music has caught the eye of authorities around the globe. UK and Australia police have sought to take away drill rap movies posted on-line. New York Mayor Eric Adams advised banning drill music from social media to stop additional violence. In New York Metropolis, Bronx District Lawyer Darcel D. Clark and native police cracked down on violent offenders outstanding within the drill rap scene this 12 months.
Canada had 33 extra gang-related homicides final 12 months than in 2020—184 in comparison with 151, a 20 p.c improve—representing the very best price (0.48 per 100,000 individuals) recorded in Canada since 2005 when Statistics Canada started amassing comparable knowledge. Saskatchewan had the very best price of gang-related homicides within the nation, at 2.12 per 100,000 individuals, a rise of 9 p.c over 2020.
“The excessive murder price in Saskatchewan comes from indigenous—each gang-related and home murders,” Mauser mentioned. “Medication and alcohol are driving a whole lot of violence in First Nations communities, and there are rival gangs preventing over the more and more profitable drug commerce in Northern Saskatchewan.”
Earlier this 12 months, a Parliament-commissioned report seemed on the rise in gang violence and made suggestions. It introduced collectively law-enforcement officers from throughout Canada, a lot of whom blamed the demand for medicine as a root trigger for gang proliferation.
RCMP Deputy Commissioner Stephen White is quoted within the report: “[W]hatever the drug is—whether or not it’s cocaine, fentanyl, or meth—if the demand is there, you’ll get teams which are transferring into it, each gangs and arranged crime. With that comes competitors between gangs and arranged crime, and that does foster a possible improve in violence.”
The report additionally contained suggestions for higher interagency cooperation. The RCMP is growing a brand new nationwide felony intelligence service system for use by native police companies in preventing organized crime.
Different Elements
ONGIA’s Hammond advised a few different elements that could be inflicting an increase in gang violence.
One is that younger gang members really feel extra assured carrying weapons. Police aren’t stopping them on the road as a lot as they used to, Hammond mentioned. Prior to now, he mentioned, a gang member who had a battle must return to his house or his automotive to get his gun and return to seek out the individual he wished to shoot. Now, he simply pulls out his gun and shoots on the spot.
Weapons are additionally extra accessible, Hammond mentioned. A lot of the weapons used for crimes in Toronto are smuggled from the US, say legislation enforcement officers, together with Toronto Police Service Deputy Chief Myron Demkiw and former Police Chief Invoice Blair.
“[Canada’s] ‘crime weapons’ are smuggled, primarily throughout the drug commerce, through which medicine circulation south in trade for firearms coming north,” Mauser defined in his Mackenzie Institute report, “Do Triggers Pull Fingers? A Have a look at the Legal Misuse of Weapons in Canada.”
One other issue fuelling growing gang violence, Hammond mentioned, is a change within the gang subculture. Prior to now, gang members adhered to extra “unwritten guidelines” to keep up peace between them. Younger gang members right this moment usually tend to shoot instantly when provoked.
Maintaining Youth From Becoming a member of Gangs
The simplest answer to gang violence, Hammond mentioned, is conserving youth from becoming a member of gangs by offering mentorship, sports activities applications, and different actions.
“To maintain children out of the gang subculture, it’s grassroots—it actually begins within the house and begins in the neighborhood,” he mentioned.
Along with the rise in gang violence, the Statistics Canada report highlighted the excessive proportion of indigenous murder victims in 2021, accounting for 25 p.c of the 752 victims for whom indigenous establish was out there. Homicides perpetrated by the partner or intimate companion of the sufferer accounted for 17 p.c of murder victims within the nation.
Saskatchewan had the very best homicide rate of 5.93 per 100,000 individuals among the many provinces in 2021. Manitoba had the second-highest price (4.41).
Prince Edward Island, Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, and Alberta had the most important proportion lower in murder price from 2020, whereas Newfoundland and Labrador, British Columbia, and Ontario had the most important proportion improve.
Trois-Rivières, Quebec, and Guelph, Ontario, have been the one census metropolitan areas with no homicides reported by police in 2021.
Statistics Canada said in its report, “Regardless of these latest will increase, homicides remained comparatively uncommon occasions, as reported traditionally. They accounted for lower than 0.2% of all police-reported violent crimes in 2021.”
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Tara MacIsaac is an Epoch Occasions reporter based mostly in Toronto.
