The president and CEO of the Toronto Community Housing Corporation has promised to invest an extra $150,000 for capital repairs to a housing complex as a reward for the residents’ help in tracking down three murder suspects.

Gene Jones, speaking at the Swansea Mews complex near Windermere Ave. and The Queensway, said he was very pleased with the community’s help in delivering to police three suspects in the shooting death of Christopher Kotsopoulos, 26, on Aug. 5.

Kotsopoulos, a former resident of the complex, was found in a public laneway around 5:30 p.m. and later died in hospital. The shooting happened in front of multiple witnesses, several of whom have come forward to police.

So far, three men have been charged with second-degree murder: Christopher Shaw, 21; Eli Goldman, 23; and Jeffrey Truong, 26; all residents of the Swansea Mews complex. Police are still seeking two other suspects.

“This has always been a safe community,” said Jones, flanked by officers from Toronto police 11 Division, noting that police still need help in identifying the remaining suspects. “The residents have been very helpful.”

The announcement came amid an initiative by the TCHC encouraging tenants to take safety into their own hands. The agency has launched 20 resident-led “community safety councils” at highrises it has identified as “high need.”

But some tenants are skeptical of the initiative, worrying it will put them at risk of retribution attacks.

“They want us to stick our necks out and report suspicious behaviour in our building,” said Miguel Avila-Velarde, who has attended safety council meetings at 220 Oak St. in the Regent Park area. “It’s a cheap alternative to hiring more guards or installing cameras.”

Avila-Velarde, 220 Oak’s tenant representative, is scheduled to meet with Jones on Wednesday. Jones arranged the meeting after the Star reported that tenants of 220 Oak felt the TCHC applied a “double standard” to them when it rejected their petition for security cameras even though another public housing complex has them.

“I think he wants to give me an alternative to the petition,” said Avila-Velarde. “But I have a feeling he will just emphasize this safety council idea.”

The initiative was launched in May “as part of a stronger focus on security,” said Lisa Joan Overholt, the TCHC’s senior director of community safety, in a statement in June. “We have found that to improve safety and security, taking a grassroots approach is much more effective.”

Mia Benight, a council member at 220 Oak, said the initiative requires that residents find ways of making their building safer.

“Our mandate is to make sure the halls are monitored, so someone can report stuff that’s not healthy,” she said, noting that tenants have long complained of violence occurring in the building’s hallways and stairwells. “We’d like to deter people from running around the halls and disturbing other peoples’ quality of life.”

David Hyde, an independent security consultant, said the TCHC’s safety councils are a good idea in theory, but lack structure and a guarantee of safety for participants.

“The most effective crime prevention is where everybody has some type of a role to play,” he said. “But they’re not clearly communicating what the objective is. What will residents get out of joining an initiative that isn’t clearly defined and might put them at risk?”

Emilia Barc, 28, said she would support the safety council initiative only if it supplemented increased security in the building.

“I’m not going to be an off-duty security guard for the building,” she said.

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