While residents grapple with the reality of Stratford’s first homicide in nearly two decades, an area criminologist questions the options available to police to keep such neighbor disputes from escalating.
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While residents grapple with the reality of Stratford’s first homicide in nearly two decades, an area criminologist questions the options available to police to keep such neighbor disputes from escalating.
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Laura Huey, a Western University sociology professor who specializes in policing, mental health and countering violent extremism, said Stratford officers were put in tough spot by having to respond to nearly a dozen calls on Bradshaw Drive in recent months.
Most of these calls were for noise complaints, but the neighborhood tension escalated late on Aug. 1 when Ricky Bilcke, 31, fatally shot Johnny Bennett, wounded Stephanie Irvine and David Tokleythen took his own life.
Officers are often called about small disagreements between neighbors, which can tie up police resources while putting them in a situation where they have little power to actually do anything, Huey said.
“Unless there’s a crime, what do we actually expect the police to do about it? . . . On one hand, we’re saying, ‘Well, we don’t want to have a police state where low-level offenders are arrested and thrown in jail.’ The flip side of that is, . . . what do you want them to do? . . . Charge people for trespassing because they crossed the neighbor’s lawn or . . . were peeking over the fence?” she said.
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“We’ve had how many years of people talking about defunding the police and sending social workers? Why is that not a possible solution? Should there be. . . resources that are not police officers who are dealing with these types of civil disputes?”
In an interview last week, Irvine said she and Bennett had an ongoing feud with a couple who lived across the street and rented a room to Bilcke. She said, however, she had only spoken to her partner’s killer once before.
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Bilcke used a high-powered rifle and shotgun during his rampage, and also carried a handgun. Last week, Stratford Police Insp. Mark Taylor confirmed Bilcke had no criminal record and his guns were registered, so there was no real mechanism for police to do anything before the shootings, Huey said.
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“We have this sort of thinking where the police can solve all these problems, and that’s just not realistic. . . . This idea that police can prevent all crimes — sure they can, but you don’t want to live in the state in which that’s allowed to happen because that means, basically, they’d have to go in and confiscate this guy’s guns,” she said.
“There’s no recourse for this, and you don’t want thought police or heavy-duty preventative policing,” Huey added.
Taylor also indicated Stratford police could soon re-examine its protocols for these types of calls. While Bill C-21, which passed last year, lets police temporarily confiscate guns from a home if officers believe there’s imminent danger, that’s usually not the case during noise complaints or neighbor disputes.
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As Canada’s homicide rate is relatively low, averaging 2.03 per 100,000 people over the last five years, neighbor disputes rarely result in such escalation, Huey noted.
“It’s much more common that you’re going to be shot in a gang-related situation in which you have a criminal record. That’s more likely to happen. It’s also much more likely to happen if you’re Indigenous. They’re way over-represented on the homicide rate. This stuff doesn’t often happen and, when it does, you’re going to remember it,” she said.
The violence that happened less than two weeks ago is unusual for communities like Stratford, which is part of the reason it’s so shocking, Huey said.
“It’s this wonderful little tourist place where everyone knows each other. So it’s pretty and charming (and) it seems relatively crime free. . . . So when something like this happens, it’s going to shock the conscience or shock the psyche of (residents). . . . It shakes you that it happens, and it makes you feel not just shocked, but a little bit unsafe for a while, but that will eventually wear off,” Huey said.
“Except for family members of victims of homicide. . . it never wears off.”
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