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The O akville Beaver W eekend, Saturday January 7, 2006 - 11 Shooting heightens concern would be allocated to various efforts to reduce gun violence in Toronto including special police squads devoted to gun violence, beefed up laws, beefed up courts, and beefed up police numbers. Toronto Police will get an additional $5 million immediate ly for a trio of new teams with specially-trained officers. More than 30 Crown prosecu tors will prosecute gun crimes in the courts, the OPP's Provincial Weapons Enforcement Unit will be expanded, additional victim services staff will support victims of gun crimes, major crime courts will be dedicated, and a new, state-of-the-art Operations Centre for the Guns and Gangs Task Force -- which includes officers from the Toronto Police Service and the OPP -- will be established. The Province also said its commitment to put 1,000 more officers on Ontario's streets -- which includes 34 new officers allotted to Halton -- under the Safer Communities -- 1,000 Officers Partnership Program by 2007 would be fast tracked. The government has also made it law to report gunshot wounds and has passed the Marijuana Grow-Ops Law to help Continued from page 5 stifle the illicit drug trade. Oakville has been a hot bed in recent years of marijuana grow operations called "grow houses" most of which operate danger ously in local neighbourhoods unbeknownst to their neigh bours and often too numerous for police to keep up with. "In talking with the police chief this morning, I'm not aware of any of that funding coming to the Halton Regional Police," admitted Bird. However, if Toronto can get a grip on its gun violence, maybe that, too, will spill over Oakville's borders. Bird called the gun violence being seen in Toronto, and more recently in Oakvilte, as "foreign" to the community. "It used to be when you got in a disagreement you'd have a few broken bones and cuts and bruis es. This has escalated to a level of violence we're not familiar with," said Bird. "We used to laugh at cases of road rage in California. I don't think we ever contemplated that we'd have a gun pointed at us," Bird said. "To a certain extent, this kind of violence is foreign to us," said Bird. As much as it appears Halton is reaping the spillover of Toronto violence, Halton is also bound to benefit from the money being invested into police and courts in Toronto. Bird said because of its very location -- containing an inter national border in the form of Lake Ontario -- and its proximi ty to larger cities from Toronto to Niagara, Halton police routinely co-operate on joint task forces particularly those related to drug squads and major crime and gang units. One of the results of the Paul Bernardo case, Bird said, was the lesson that there's a need for bet ter communication among police "because crime doesn't exactly · A fu ll academ ic program stop at the borders." Preschool through G rade 6 · C hild centred co m m u n ity With three homicides record · A cadem ic excellence · Low student/teacher ratio ed for 2005 -- an "all-time high" for Halton -- Bird said no one · H ighly qualified s ta ff · In d ividualized a ttention has been murdered as a result of gun violence here -- yet. "Shootings are foreign to us ctnd not the method used to set tle disputes in the past," said Bird. Offer your child a sense of belonging and security in our Noting recent media reports community circle which includes child, family and school. of the Toronto mother turning in her teenage son when she found he had a loaded AK-47 assault ; Call for an appointment to see our school & meet our teachers rifle, Bird said, "This is scary stuff. 9 0 5 -8 4 2 -2 2 0 0 e x t. 3 0 0 What has happened here? It is of w w w .cla rim o rem o n tesso ri.co m concern to us." OPEN HOUSE W ednesday, Jan 18 · 6:30 - 8:30pm Ladies and gentlemen, start your imaginations. Ten.glorious new galleries now open at the R o y a l O ntario M u se u m . T hey're all part o f the R O M 's renaissance that includes one o f the m ost im portant collections o f C hinese art outside C h in a...th e largest collection o f Japanese art in C anada... the nation's only perm anent gallery o f Korean art and culture. ..the cultures o f Canada's First Peoples presented through contem porary and historical w orks...and two special exhibitions featuring Lalique glass and Korean paintings. This is your, invitation to bring yourself, your family and friends. B ut m ost o f all, bring your curiosity. Ten (yes, 10) new galleries. Become a m e m be r a n d visit for free. R o y a l O n t a r io M useum W orld Cultures I N atural History Open Daily Bloor St. W . at Avenue Rd. Museum subway stop Toronto, Ontario 4 16.586.800 0 w w w .rom .on.ca