One Year after Matthew Owens was Murdered on Kipps Lane during the early morning of Feb. 14th, 2009, little is said openly about the events which lead to his murder.
It was a gruesome murder that happened after hours of partying during the early hours of Feb. 14th 2009.Owens died in the parking lot of the strip plaza AT 1050 Kipps Lane. Like so many violent and tragic events that happen on Kipps Lane and in Huron - Boullee it dropped off the news pages quickly.
Another murder, another violent event, just another drug related arrest or knifing in this area. It's quickly identified by authorities as an "isolated event," not to be worried about. Long-time residents know better.
At the Kipps Lane Initiative (KLI) meeting, days after the murder, we were forbidden by City staff to talk about the murder. For whatever reason there were six London plain clothes Police officers at the meeting. They did identify themselves. Neither Bernie MacDonald (Ward 3) or Stepen Orser (Ward 4) attended the meeting, even though both of their wards straddle Kipps Lane. Absentee Councillors also play a major role in keeping this area down.
There was no legal reason to put the gag order on these neighbourhood residents and KLI members who braved the frigid weather to attend the meeting called by City staff. The murder had been publicly reported for several days by the day of this meeting.
We were TOLD to come up with ways to SUPPORT each other. Sadly the City staff at that meeting and the six Police members didn't realize that they should have been supporting the 30 people from the neighbourhood who showed up on a blistering cold February night. Most of the residents I knew on Kipps Lane where I then lived were in shock at that time and were in little state of mind to "support" anyone, from what I saw that night.
One Year After Residents of Kipps Lane awoke on a Saturday Morning (Valentine's Day 2009) to learn that Matthew Owens had been brutally murdered near the strip plaza on Kipps Lane the murder remains something people talk about very quietly. The shrine of flowers and pictures has remained in various states behind the strip plaza for the entire year.
The Trial for the accused has yet to come up. On a street where break-ins, property crime, graffiti and gangs dominate incidents like this percolate to the top from time to time amidst the usual problems with auto break-ins, graffiti, gang problems and feelings of intimidation by teens mostly male who crowd sidewalks and other areas and make it their turf known.
Last June as I talked to a nearby homeowner in mid-afternoon five LPS cruisers raced by trying to catch a young male running around with a fully loaded converted starter's gun. Neighbours were so used to this stuff hardly anyone looked as they drove him to the klink. Later that year there several serious incidents at Sir George Ross S.S. which is just off Kipps Lane.
I receive daily media releases from many sources to post everyday. One of them is from the LPS. It is true that serious crime happens all over London. It is also true that different kinds of crime happens more often in certain areas. Even without the LPS's expert personnel and software which produces expert reports on which type of crime is happening and where in London, I have a pretty good feel from the media releases where London's crime "hot spots" are.
There is no denying that Kipps Lane Huron Boullee Adelaide is a very hot spot amongst several many other hot spots in London. To date, $580,000 has been committed to The KLI. It was supposed to last 1 1/2 years and cost $220,000.
Last summer our car was broken into again at our former residence. Just as we looked at our car a LPS cruiser pulled up to investigate another break-in. This guy was different. He didn't give us the usual party line about the area.
He too was fed up with chasing vandals breaking in cars and stealing them for a kick. I won't print what he said but I will say he was sympathetic towards us and what he said confirmed that people who speak up in bad areas of London aren't reactionaries. It would be nice to hear a few more cops speak as openly as that one did about Kipps Lane and other violent parts of London.
