Pubdate: Fri, 27 Aug 2004
Source: Regina Leader-Post (CN SN)
Copyright: 2004 The Leader-Post Ltd.
Contact:  http://www.canada.com/regina/leaderpost/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/361
Author: Anne Kyle, Leader-Post
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/find?188 (Outlaw Bikers)

SASK. GANGS MORE VIOLENT

Street gangs are increasingly becoming more violent and while most of that 
violence is directed between rival gang members, innocent bystanders have 
been caught in the middle, said Bob Bazin, director of Criminal 
Intelligence Service Saskatchewan.

"The cost of organized crime on the economy and the social, economic and 
health costs associated with the illicit drug trade is a huge drain on 
society," said Bazin, calling on Saskatchewan residents to take a 
pro-active role in the agency's efforts to stymie gang and organized 
criminal activity in the province.

"Street gangs have been around Saskatchewan for about 10 years. The problem 
on the Prairies is somewhat unique because most of our street gangs are 
primarily aboriginal youth, although we are seeing a mixture of both -- 
street gangs and criminal organizations (Hells Angels and Asian-based 
organizations) here," Bazin said.

"We are no different than some of the larger cities like Montreal and 
Toronto where we are seeing a growth in the street gang populations and 
some of their activities," he said.

In Saskatchewan, the primary aboriginal-based gangs are the Native 
Syndicate in Regina and the Indian Posse in Saskatoon, but gang activity 
has also been seen in Prince Albert, North Battleford and Yorkton, as well 
as in some of the smaller urban centres and on reserves, Bazin said.

The Hells Angels have also moved into Saskatchewan, which is cause for 
concern, he said.

Nationally, Bazin said, the Criminal Intelligence Service is seeing a trend 
where organized crime gangs, such as the Hells Angels, are using aboriginal 
street gangs and younger gang members as their workforce to collect debts 
and act as enforcers, threatening and intimidating the competition in the 
drug trade and anyone who might come forth and testify against the 
organization or its members, he said.

"If you look at the crime trends there is a lot of violence going on right 
now, especially with street gangs. They are not afraid to use violence to 
support their means. What we are really seeing a lot of in Saskatchewan, 
especially with street gangs, is the intimidation of witnesses to reduce 
the number of people willing to step forward to testify against them or 
file complaints against them," Bazin said.

Efforts to fight street gangs and organized criminal activity must start at 
the ground level through public education for our young people about the 
pitfalls of joining a gang, and to ensure parents, schools, social agencies 
and the communities work pro-actively with police enforcement agents to 
detect, reduce and prevent organized and serious crime in Canada, Bazin said.

Federation of Saskatchewan Indian Nations (FSIN) Vice-Chief Lawrence Joseph 
said the federation has adopted a number of pro-active strategies and 
programs to discourage young people from joining gangs in response to their 
own study that found gang activity was a strong and emerging problem on 
reserves and in our cities.

"Our focus was not on busting up the gangs, but on gang-proofing our young 
people and communities. We wanted to offer young people healthy 
alternatives to gang activity and to teach parents what signs to look out 
for if they suspected their child might be involved in gang activity," he said.

While there is no hard evidence to prove the program is working, it was 
well received, Joseph said. "If we were able to save one youngster from 
joining a gang then the program was a success," he said.
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MAP posted-by: Terry Liittschwager