North Bay Police Chief Scott Tod is not afraid to say that he is concerned with the number of guns - real or fake - they are seeing around the community.
Earlier this week, North Bay Police made arrests in relation to a robbery and they seized a shotgun and a handmade handgun.
See related: Domestic violence investigation leads to armed robbery arrest
Tod addressed the issue at the North Bay Police Services Board meeting on Tuesday.
"We have seen a growing prevalence used in the commission of criminal offences within the community and it is not just North Bay, it is Sudbury, Thunder Bay," said Tod.
"The other communities' chiefs that I have spoken to have all said the same thing that there is an increased use of firearms. I am also worried about that imitation firearm is that people are using imitation firearms to threaten, coerce, extort people and use it as a means of controlling someone in a criminal environment so I have great concern about that in our community."
As for the fake guns, Tod believes it has become very difficult to determine whether a gun is real or not.
"We train our officers in the acceptable use of force standards in Ontario and that training opportunity and that time to make that assessment plan and act has really less than one second many times and we do teach our officers on the ability to take cover, use concealment, do many things, but there are many times when it is just the officer and the individual themselves and there are not many opportunities other than to use lethal force," said Tod.
- BayToday.ca