CBC News – Recent gun violence in Waterloo region should spur preventative action, advocate says

“The earlier in life we can address those risk factors, the better for everybody, not just for the person, for the victims, but also for the community.” Michael Parkinson

CBC NEWS – Waterloo regional police have responded to eight shootings so far this year, three in the last two weeks. That should be sparking a conversation on how to prevent further gun violence, says Michael Parkinson of the Waterloo Region Crime Prevention Council.

In the past week and a half, there have been three shootings in Kitchener. While the headlines often list the number of people injured, killed and arrested, Michael Parkinson wants those crimes to also spur a conversation about what can be done to prevent further gun violence in the community.

“The action that I think the community is looking for is really those efforts to prevent the harm happening in the first place, to address some of the root causes,” Parkinson said in an interview.

But despite having decades of experience, Parkinson says the challenge is in finding resources to fund initiatives that are known to reduce crime and victimization across the region. He says some of those initiatives include focusing on risk factors for young people who may be led to engage in crime. Read more…