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The ER's Revolving Door: How Toronto Police Walked a Bullet-Wounded Home Invader Out · Kvetch & Release

• 0:00
  Speaker 1: It is time for Litke's Got a Take. Good morning,
• 0:03
  Speaker 1: John Litke.
• 0:04
  Speaker 2: Good morning, Gene Valaitis.
• 0:06
  Speaker 1: Well, it's quite the big story. I talked about it
• 0:09
  Speaker 1: on Valaitis on the News a little while ago. It's
• 0:11
  Speaker 1: about the four bad guys storming into a home on
• 0:14
  Speaker 1: the bridle path in Toronto, bludgeoning the parents with a hammer,
• 0:18
  Speaker 1: shooting three other family members. Now, one of the suspects,
• 0:21
  Speaker 1: who has not been proven guilty, still innocent, was shot
• 0:24
  Speaker 1: by his own crew. And he walked into St. Joe's
• 0:27
  Speaker 1: Hospital in Toronto. And whenever somebody with a gunshot shows
• 0:31
  Speaker 1: up at the hospital, they have to inform the police.
• 0:34
  Speaker 1: So the police interviewed this guy, and they thought he
• 0:38
  Speaker 1: was going to be in there for a few days.
• 0:40
  Speaker 1: But they let him go, almost like a revolving ER door.
• 0:44
  Speaker 1: So how does an unexplained bullet hole in a country
• 0:48
  Speaker 1: where handguns are banned not qualify... as basic grounds to
• 0:53
  Speaker 1: hold somebody. Now, I know the police over the weekend said,
• 0:56
  Speaker 1: you know, it was only a suspicion and they didn't
• 0:59
  Speaker 1: have enough evidence. But come on. I mean, if it
• 1:02
  Speaker 1: looks like a duck and it quacks like a duck.
• 1:05
  Speaker 2: Gene, common sense has officially left the building. Handguns don't
• 1:09
  Speaker 2: fall out of the sky in Ontario. And you don't
• 1:12
  Speaker 2: take a bullet to the shoulder while taking out the recycling.
• 1:16
  Speaker 2: This sounds like the old joke, how did he die? Oh,
• 1:19
  Speaker 2: he fell down an elevator shaft and he landed on
• 1:21
  Speaker 2: a pile of bullets. I mean, the bullet hole is
• 1:24
  Speaker 2: the crime scene. Let's be honest about this. Before high-tech
• 1:28
  Speaker 2: digital ballistics showed up and predictive algorithmics, If a guy
• 1:32
  Speaker 2: showed up at an ER at dawn with a fresh
• 1:34
  Speaker 2: gunshot wound after a violent shootout across town, cops called
• 1:39
  Speaker 2: him suspect number one. That was common sense. They wouldn't
• 1:42
  Speaker 2: wait for carbon dating on the lead. He was either
• 1:44
  Speaker 2: a perpetrator. He was either a material witness. He was
• 1:48
  Speaker 2: either the victim or all three. In Toronto, police have
• 1:52
  Speaker 2: treated an unexplained bullet wound like an incidental workplace slip
• 1:56
  Speaker 2: and fall. While there's a family that's sitting in trauma
• 2:00
  Speaker 2: units with fractured skulls, I mean, this is absolute institutional paralysis.
• 2:04
  Speaker 2: And I don't blame the individual police officers here, although
• 2:07
  Speaker 2: I think they should take some responsibility. I really do blame,
• 2:10
  Speaker 2: you know, the entire policing agency and our outlook towards
• 2:14
  Speaker 2: crime and law enforcement.
• 2:15
  Speaker 1: Well, you know what it's like in Canada. It's always
• 2:17
  Speaker 1: about the bad guys, never about the victims. Now, as
• 2:20
  Speaker 1: you alluded to, police claim they couldn't detain him without
• 2:24
  Speaker 1: an iron-clad ballistic report and videos to support their case
• 2:30
  Speaker 1: so it wouldn't be tossed into court. But does waiting
• 2:33
  Speaker 1: 30 hours for lab results justify letting a suspected violent
• 2:38
  Speaker 1: shooting suspect vanish into thin air?
• 2:41
  Speaker 2: Yeah, spare me the bureaucratic excuse-making, officers or inspectors, please.
• 2:47
  Speaker 2: And I watched the podium speech that was provided talking
• 2:51
  Speaker 2: about the ironclad conviction. What good is an ironclad court
• 2:56
  Speaker 2: case when the guy is on the run with a
• 2:58
  Speaker 2: nationwide warrant and his arm still in a sling? The
• 3:03
  Speaker 2: state has an endless appetite to give violent criminals the
• 3:06
  Speaker 2: benefit of the doubt, hand them a warm discharge cup,
• 3:10
  Speaker 2: and walk them out to the curb while the public
• 3:13
  Speaker 2: absorbs all of that risk. The moment law-abiding citizens ask
• 3:17
  Speaker 2: for basic street-level protection, Police point to legal handbooks, red tape,
• 3:22
  Speaker 2: and procedural paralysis. It's unacceptable.
• 3:25
  Speaker 1: I wonder why they just didn't tail him when he
• 3:28
  Speaker 1: left the hospital. Or did police leave the hospital, as
• 3:32
  Speaker 1: some reports have it today, and the hospital just let
• 3:36
  Speaker 1: him go? So, you know, one hand wasn't talking to
• 3:38
  Speaker 1: the other.
• 3:39
  Speaker 2: Yeah, this is really the key question, right? Why wasn't
• 3:43
  Speaker 2: there an active tail kept on an unidentified gunshot victim?
• 3:47
  Speaker 2: And the Supreme Court handed down a while ago that
• 3:49
  Speaker 2: police have investigative detention powers. That was two decades ago,
• 3:53
  Speaker 2: I believe. If their legal department was having panic attacks
• 3:56
  Speaker 2: over an immediate arrest, then, yeah, where were the plainclothes units?
• 4:01
  Speaker 2: Where was the unmarked cruiser quietly sitting in the parking lot?
• 4:05
  Speaker 2: You don't just shrug off and wish a gunshot patient
• 4:08
  Speaker 2: a speedy recovery and let him hail an Uber into
• 4:11
  Speaker 2: the breeze while you wait for the lab tech to
• 4:13
  Speaker 2: run over like he's Dexter. I mean, this is not
• 4:16
  Speaker 2: procedural caution. This is operational negligence, or at least it
• 4:20
  Speaker 2: feels like it. Now, I'm not a lawyer, so these
• 4:22
  Speaker 2: are just my musings as someone who complains a lot
• 4:24
  Speaker 2: on the radio.
• 4:25
  Speaker 1: That's what we like to have you do. You know,
• 4:28
  Speaker 1: home invasions are up about 35% in Toronto, and this
• 4:31
  Speaker 1: was in a multi-million dollar area of the city north
• 4:36
  Speaker 1: of downtown. But you know what? These home invasion robberies
• 4:39
  Speaker 1: are up everywhere, especially along the big mansions along Lakeshore,
• 4:43
  Speaker 1: in places like Oakville and Burlington. So it's not just
• 4:47
  Speaker 1: a wealthy enclave issue. No, it's not, Gene.
• 4:51
  Speaker 2: It's not just a wealthy enclave issue. Dismissing this because
• 4:54
  Speaker 2: it happened in a wealthy enclave is absolute bunk. Postal
• 4:58
  Speaker 2: codes don't matter when the foundation is rotting and crime
• 5:01
  Speaker 2: is running rampant. We've had police literally telling suburbanites to
• 5:04
  Speaker 2: leave their key fobs by the front door like room
• 5:07
  Speaker 2: service so car thieves don't hurt them when they expect
• 5:10
  Speaker 2: to do a home invasion. We see chaos on transit
• 5:13
  Speaker 2: systems across the country, organized theft syndicates running rampant, and now,
• 5:18
  Speaker 2: you know, violent home intrusions spiking. If there is a
• 5:21
  Speaker 2: disconnect between what the basic public safety is, and I
• 5:25
  Speaker 2: know that what police love to say and law enforcement
• 5:27
  Speaker 2: love to say, look, crime is down, and I get that.
• 5:30
  Speaker 2: But if there's a breakdown or a disconnect between how
• 5:32
  Speaker 2: it is perceived and what the reality is, it is
• 5:35
  Speaker 2: the police's job to bridge that gap and then to
• 5:39
  Speaker 2: shut it like it needs to be done. It's stuff
• 5:43
  Speaker 2: like this which only serves to burn down the bridge
• 5:46
  Speaker 2: of basic public trust in our institutions.
• 5:50
  Speaker 1: Yeah. Final question here. The police always advise residents facing
• 5:56
  Speaker 1: home invasions to run, lock themselves in a room, go high,
• 5:59
  Speaker 1: do whatever you can. Now, in places like the United States,
• 6:03
  Speaker 1: they have a thing called stand your ground laws, castle laws.
• 6:06
  Speaker 1: Even Pierre Poliev has pushed for a stand on guard
• 6:09
  Speaker 1: legislation to legally protect homeowners. I think we need it.
• 6:13
  Speaker 1: When the bad guys break in, you should be able
• 6:16
  Speaker 1: to grab your legal handgun, shoot them up and not
• 6:19
  Speaker 1: be charged.
• 6:21
  Speaker 2: Polly Ebb's proposal to amend the criminal code and to,
• 6:24
  Speaker 2: you know, put in a statutory presumption on the books
• 6:27
  Speaker 2: that force used against an unlawful intruder inside of your
• 6:30
  Speaker 2: home is reasonable. It's going to explode back onto the
• 6:34
  Speaker 2: floor of the House of Commons when it comes up
• 6:37
  Speaker 2: this week, which I believe is going to be doing.
• 6:39
  Speaker 2: I mean, how could Polly Ebb's team not bring this
• 6:40
  Speaker 2: up now?
• 6:41
  Speaker 1: Don't worry.
• 6:42
  Speaker 2: People are fed up with administrative cowardice. And here's my
• 6:45
  Speaker 2: final take on this. You should be able to feel
• 6:48
  Speaker 2: safe and secure in your homes and in streets. and
• 6:51
  Speaker 2: that the police are going to put the innocent before
• 6:53
  Speaker 2: the criminals, that the politicians will ensure that the legislation
• 6:57
  Speaker 2: on the books is currently adequate for the situation at hand,
• 7:00
  Speaker 2: and if not, to update it. And if, God forbid,
• 7:04
  Speaker 2: the worst happens, you'll be secure in knowing that defending
• 7:07
  Speaker 2: yourself won't find you in prison and the criminal with
• 7:10
  Speaker 2: a multi-million dollar payout. Unfortunately, right now, for many Canadians,
• 7:15
  Speaker 2: it doesn't feel that way, Gene.
• 7:16
  Speaker 1: Yeah, I agree. Great take this morning. We'll talk to
• 7:19
  Speaker 1: you tomorrow morning, 9.45.