Vancouver grapples with drug gangs before Olympics

Vancouver grapples with drug gangs before Olympics
Fri Feb 13, 2009

VANCOUVER, British Columbia, Feb 13 (Reuters) - Officials vowed on Friday to crack down on the drug gang violence that has erupted in the Vancouver area just as the West Coast Canadian city is celebrating the one-year countdown to the 2010 Winter Olympics.

Gordon Campbell, premier of the province of British Columbia, where Vancouver is located, said nearly 170 police officers will be added to the province's anti-gang operations, and the government will crack down on illegal guns and the use of armored vehicles and body armor.

"We will use every tool at our disposal," Campbell said, calling the recent violence "shocking and appalling".

There have been nine shootings in the past 11 days involving members of various gangs related to the drug trade in the Vancouver area, home to both importers and exporters of illegal drugs.

Police have stopped short of calling the eruption of violence a "gang war", saying not all the incidents are directly linked to each other.

The shootings have been an embarrassing sideshow as local officials hosted International Olympic Committee members and international media for the one-year countdown to the 2010 Winter Games in Vancouver.

The violence also comes British Columbia prepares for a May provincial election and its resource-dependent economy struggles with weak commodity prices and a diving real estate market.

Opposition New Democratic Party leader Carol James said the gang-related killings have been going on for a long time and that Campbell, leader of the provincial Liberal Party, was reacting now only because it had become a public relations problem.

"The premier has had two years to do something," James told a news conference.

Both Campbell and James said the federal government must toughen and modernize Canada's wiretap laws so they can be used against devices such as BlackBerries. (Reporting Allan Dowd, Editing by Peter Galloway)

The war on gangs: 168 new officers, special units, tougher laws and a crackdown on guns

By Kim Bolan,Vancouver Sun, February 14, 2009

The B.C. Government has declared war on B.C. gangs by adding 168 new police specialists and 10 extra prosecutors to combat the rampant gunplay played out almost daily on Metro Vancouver streets.

And Premier Gordon Campbell said Friday two new 16-member anti-gang units will be dispatched to Kelowna and Prince George to deal with gangsters who’ve moved into those communities and set up shop.

Campbell said the new police resources will almost double the number of officers dedicated to battling organized crime in B.C. to 368 at a cost of $69 million over three years.

Lower Mainland mayors, police chiefs and families of gang victims gathered in an RCMP gym to hear the release of the government’s new seven-point strategy in response to brazen public shootings in recent weeks in mall parking lots and busy intersections.

Campbell said the infusion of resources would go to specialized organized crime units like the Combined Forces Special Enforcement Unit, the B.C. Integrated Gang Task Force, the Outlaw Motorcycle Gang Unit and the Organized Crime Agency.

“It is clear from what has taken place over the last couple of days that we need to do more and we will,” Campbell said.

“Once those new police officers arrest the criminals, we need to prosecute them and put them behind bars.”

He promised to spend another $185 million to build 304 new jail cells in Burnaby, Maple Ridge and Prince George, with the capacity to house 600 more inmates.

“We are going to make sure we have the jail capacity necessary to ensure that no criminals or suspects are released due to space pressures in our corrections system,” he said.

Campbell pledged to work with the federal government to “to toughen the criminal code to get and keep criminals off the street.”

“We need to make it much more difficult for those accused of gun cases to get bail,” Campbell said. “We’ll need to eliminate the two for one credit for time served while awaiting trial.”

He also promised to make it illegal for gangsters to drive around in armoured vehicle and said he would restrict the sale of body armour to those without criminal records.

“More and more gang members are protecting themselves with armoured vehicles and body armour and they use those tools to take their war to the streets,” he said.

Solicitor General John van Dongen kicked off the announcement in an RCMP gym at E-Division headquarters, which almost seemed like a political rally with applause throughout.

“No more gangs. No more guns. No more innocent victims,” van Dongen said.
Van Dongen said the innocent victims of the October 2007 highrise massacre – Ed Schellenberg and Chris Mohan – have inspired him to act.

Mohan’s parents Eileen and Sunil were on hand for the event.

Eileen praised the measures as a step in the right direction, but said parents and families must also be held to account for their gangster offspring.
“I blame the parents for accommodating their children,” she said. “Their parents are cowards.”

Surrey Mayor Dianne Watts, who has seen gang murders in her city this year, praised the infusion of resources, but said an independent overseer should be appointed to follow the money as it is handed out.

“This is exactly what we have been hoping for in the last number of years – a coordinated effort from all levels of government,” Watts said. “We have seen the gang violence playing out on our streets.”

Abbotsford Mayor George Peary, who hosted a public forum Feb. 2 on gang violence in his city, also welcomed the plan.

“The police will have a lot more resources now,” Peary said. “Certainly this is going to mean a lot more police on the streets in Abbotsford.”

Attorney General Wally Oppal, who just last week said the streets are safe, called the shootings “an unparalleled wave of violence.”

“There will be a collaborative approach to this problem,” he said, describing how he is off to Ottawa to push for legislative changes to bail provisions, as well as updated electronic surveillance laws that would make it easier to get wiretaps for gangsters’ cell phones and blackberries.

RCMP Deputy Commissioner Gary Bass said there has to be a “multi-faceted, coordinated approach with a properly functioning criminal justice system.”

“These criminals are resorting to unprecedented levels of violence in places that put the public at extreme risk. We will not this to continue and we have been attacking the issue head on,” Bass said.

Bass said the additional prosecutors will provide “immediate relief and ensure continuity from street-level police enforcement through to the court system.”
But he said there must also be longer-term measures involving criminal code changes.

“Today’s announcement demonstrates the shared commitment by all branches of the criminal justice system to put an end to violence in our streets,” Bass said.
“This is not just a problem for the police to solve in isolation. It is a problem for our entire community to take on.”

Vancouver Police Chief Jim Chu said law enforcement is doing everything it can, but the courts have to do their part too.

“I want to assure the public the police will be arresting and charging gang members,” Chu said. “The public should hold all parts of the system accountable.”

NDP leader Carole James criticized the timing of the announcement, saying Campbell has ignored gang violence for years.

“Now that the premier is getting heat from the public and with the election just three months away, he has suddenly woken up to the problem. Gordon Campbell and Wally Oppal failed to act for years, why should they be trusted now?” James asked.

She also said Campbell is not being upfront about whether other areas of policing will be sacrificed for his plan.

“At this stage, I expect new and dedicated police resources to combat gang activity. And it must be reflected in next week’s budget,” James said.

Campbell said his government would increase money for anti-gang education in schools, as well as creating a gang hotline for tipsters to provide information to police. Increased rewards will also be offered, he said.

“These are significant investments. They are serious steps to stopping the gang violence in our streets because British Columbians are serving notice to gangs – you are not welcome in our province. You are not welcome in our streets, in our neighbourhoods, in our communities or anywhere in British Columbia.”

The B.C. government plans action to take illegal guns off the street by:

• creating a 10-member “weapons enforcement unit” dedicated to seizing illegal firearms.
• providing additional powers for the chief firearms officer and taking over responsibility for the federal firearms program in B.C.
• doing more rigorous inspections and security standards for gun dealers and their stores.
• increasing licensing security rules for “prop masters”, including reducing and limiting the number of authorized suppliers.
• shutting down weapon retailers and prop masters who fail to secure their facilities against break-ins and are unable to account for lost or stolen firearms due to negligence.
• requiring all health facilities to report treatment of any patients with gunshot wounds.
kbolan@vancouversun.com