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The unnecessary and untimely death of Carl Reinboth, a respected harm reduction worker, mentor and advocate who was recently attacked on Somerset Street, came as a shock to the community of people he supported, and to the Chinatown neighbourhood where he was killed. We understand why, in the face of that shock, there are sudden and instinctive reactions. We also hope that in the light of day, we think more clearly about how we avoid these tragedies in the future.
We understand why, in the immediate aftermath of a senseless death, people turn to what they know. We have been told time and again that safety equals policing, and that is an idea that has been proven hard to shake. But more police, short of an officer on every street corner every hour of the day, would not have prevented what happened last month.