Mornelle Court in the News
When I walked into a Tim Horton’s this morning at 6am for a coffee I picked up a copy of the Metro. Mornelle Court had made the front page. The only positive item about the story is it is not explicitly refer to Scarborough by name – something the media does far too often when gun violence happens in the east end. The main thrust of the article is about the treatment of the officers who attended the scene immediately after the shooting and the hostility they were met with by residents.
This hostility is something I met up close when I ran for City Council in Ward 43 and canvassed in Mornelle Court and other areas. Calling for more community patrols turned out to be a bad idea, and after about the sixth person in a row told me that, my very small team and I sat down to discuss what we’d been hearing, why it might be and what might be another approach that was more appropriate for an area that is uneasy to a police presence. We moved to a message that focused more on positive alternatives to crime for young people in at risk communities. Parents liked that. Much of the mistrust and almost fear of the police was based on anecdotal accounts of previous interactions, but it was clear that there was a feeling of uneasiness.
Mornelle Court is a mix of affordable condos, lower income market rental buildings and Toronto Community Housing buildings. By way of unit count they are likely almost equal in percentages of the total community. Mornelle is also home to many UTSC and Centennial students as both school’s campuses are five minute walks from the neighbourhood.
Metro reports dozens of witnesses being present when the police arrived and officers being verbally abused by people who also have refused to speak to them about the incident. When you think about it, this type of behaviour is unexpected when police arrive on the scene of a violent crime. The paper quoted an officer who was clearly frustrated by this and saying this case would go no where fast if people wouldn’t come forward. Perhaps instead of papers repeatedly pointing out that in higher crime neighbourhoods this is a re-occurring theme, they might find it useful to do some investigative work to find out what is going on in these neighbourhoods that is creating such a negative view of police. If I was a Metro reporter and the assignment editor asked me to look into this, I’d start by asking people “why” the hard feelings toward the police. Listen to their response and ask “why” again, until you dig deep enough to hear them out. Once you’re there you may not like the answer, and it will very likely turn into a far bigger deal than simply a newspaper article, but something is wrong in our communities and it is not just gun violence. Police need to be part of the solution to ensuring community safety, but first police need to be welcome members of a community, and that is not easy to build, especially without truly understanding what the breakdown is between the community and the police that serve them.
One comment I would like to make about stories like this in general is the impact they have on other people’s lives. Imagine you’re a guy who’s thrown everything he’s got into a down payment on a condo or townhouse in Mornelle Court. It represents the single largest aspect of your net worth. A shooting happens, your neighbourhood is named, and the reputation of your condo is further damaged. Resale value takes a hit, as real estate agents representing buyers warn their customers about neighbourhoods like yours. However, the entertainment district can be like the Wild West three nights a week year round and require police officers on every corner on weekend nights, and a guy with a condo in CityPlace doesn’t feel it at all. I personally feel more comfortable walking in a place like Mornelle Court at night than I would taking a wander through the entertainment district. The media has historically done Scarborough a disservice in how it reports violent crime in our end of the city. Metro did the right thing by naming the street and not the city, it’s the same policy other media outlets have historically had for the downtown core, North York and after a sufficient amount of complaint are beginning to adopt for Scarborough.
Tags: Gun Violence, Mornelle Court, Ward 43
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