Yet another gangland drive-by shooting occurred on a busy B.C. city street last weekend, leaving its residents shocked by how close they are to such horrific violence.
Yet for some reason, the Kelowna RCMP member speaking to media about the crime insisted on "calming anxiety" by announcing the "general public is not at risk."
The statement is an irresponsible undermining of the severity of the crime.
The fact is the hail of bullets that pelted downtown Kelowna killing a prominent gang member and wounding five others most certainly endangered the general public, some of whom were mere metres away.
Hearing a police member dismiss the threat to regular folks sounds creepily close to dismissing the seriousness of the crime. Obviously that's not what they meant to do, so why would the police want to "ease people's anxiety"?
Perhaps they fear the public's anger will turn towards them?
Well, if that's the case, let it be our turn to ease the police's anxiety - one thing that is truly not at risk it's the possibility the general public will cause an uproar.
The chances are slim to none that hoards of people will all of a sudden say "Enough is enough!" grab their pitchforks and torches and take to the streets. If only that were the case.
Unfortunately, it seems the reaction an overwhelming amount of people have to such incidences is apathy.
Until a bullet actually whizzes by their own faces, people just don't believe the violence can affect them.
And for any member of the police force to state they are not in danger only encourages that apathy.
People need to get angry and stay angry so they can keep pressuring every level of government to make violent crime a top agenda - and we don't mean paying it lip service on the campaign trail.
The situation in Prince George is shameful, and local police do reinforce the fact that anyone can be a victim of gang violence.
There's certainly no denying it.
Just last week, a drive-by shooting left one man innocently driving home shaken after his life was spared by mere inches when a bullet meant for a gang member blasted through his rear windshield.
And this week, a teenager was terrorized when five men stormed into her house and held a gun to her face only to discover they had the wrong address - undoubtedly meaning to target other criminals.
With a municipal election coming up in the fall, residents have an opportunity to make elected leaders voice their position on gang violence and hold them to it once in office.
It's high time the pitchforks came out.
-- Prince George Citizen
