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Politicians are experts at ignoring information that makes them uncomfortable.

The fact gang and gun violence in Toronto has skyrocketed since police were banned from doing street cheeks makes them uncomfortable, lest they be accused of racism by anti-police activists if they acknowledge it.

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And so at City Hall and Queen’s Park they ignore reality, saying they’re hiring more police officers, implementing new shift schedules to more effectively deploy the force and investing more money in policing and programs to address the root causes of violence.

Despite that, since street checks were banned in 2014, the number of shootings compared to 2019 is up by 178%, victims by 218% and shooting homicides by 63%.

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Homicides vary from year to year for many reasons.

The more significant figures are the number of shooting occurrences and victims.

Police describe victims as killed, injured, uninjured or whose fate is unknown.