The Stratford Police Service will have to re-examine some of its protocols after a longstanding dispute between neighbors turned deadly last week, a high-ranking officer said.
The Stratford Police Service could re-examine some of its protocols after a longstanding dispute between neighbors turned deadly last week, a high-ranking officer said.
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“It’ll be an ongoing process for us and the community to figure out what went wrong and how we can do better,” Stratford Police Insp. Mark Taylor said. “There’s always things you can look at.”
Police were called to intervene on Bradshaw Drive “approximately” 11 times since last summer to deal with complaints from two residences in the ongoing conflict – one occupied by Ricky Bilcke and the other occupied by Johnny Bennett and Stephanie Irvine. Most of the calls were for noise and neighbor disputes, but it escalated late Aug. 1 when Bilcke fatally shot Bennett and wounded Irvine and David Tokley in a public rampage before turning the gun on himself.
Bilcke used a high-powered rifle and a shotgun to kill and injure the victims, and he also had a handgun on him at the time of the incident, Taylor confirmed. He didn’t have a criminal record, and the guns were registered, Taylor added.
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Typically, Stratford officers ask homeowners if they have firearms only when responding to more urgent calls, like domestic violence. Under Bill C-21, which passed in December 2023, police can temporarily confiscate guns from a residence if they believe there is imminent danger.
That’s not often the case when responding to noise complaints or trying to calm a dispute – calls that happen frequently across the city.
But last week’s shooting spree could change that, Taylor said.
“Now we’re going to have to relook at that and start asking those questions to know we have flags on residences we don’t know about,” he said. “(Officers) are going to be more aware of their surroundings and what they’re getting themselves into.”
Doing so could potentially prevent another incident like the one that happened last week.
“You go to a noise complaint and it would be weird to ask if they have firearms in the house,” Taylor said. “Now if we’re getting called to a residence on multiple occasions for small complaints, it’s something you look at.”
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