Pubdate: Wed, 07 Nov 2007 Source: Province, The (CN BC) Copyright: 2007 The Province Contact: http://www.canada.com/theprovince/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/476 Author: Lena Sin, with files from Susan Lazaruk and John Bermingham NEW RESEARCH CRITICAL, EXPERTS SAY Data Not Keeping Pace With Gang Growth Police are handcuffed in fighting gangs because they simply don't have enough information on the burgeoning number of criminal organizations, experts say. There has been no comprehensive research done on gangs in B.C. in the past several years, even though academic experts acknowledge the gang landscape has changed dramatically since the 1990s -- the last time any research was undertaken. "[In the 1980s and 1990s] there were more easily-identifiable, named groups and they were very much strutting their stuff in the manner of Hollywood movies," said Robert Gordon, a criminology professor at Simon Fraser University. "But that's all collapsed. What has risen is a more amorphous set of groups which are focusing their activity in the illegal drug trade," Gordon said yesterday. Police now estimate there are more than 125 organized-crime groups in B.C. Understanding the gang problem in terms of who is involved, what their numbers are, what activities they're involved in and why they joined is crucial to forming a comprehensive plan, experts say. That was emphasized last week at the Canadian Association of Chiefs of Police street-gang conference in Montreal. The CACP ended the conference by calling for a national strategy on street gangs that involves not just police enforcement but prevention and programs that enable members to leave gangs. Meanwhile, Gordon is critical of Solicitor-General John Les for rejecting the idea of creating a regional police force, relying instead on cross-jurisdictional forces. "Obviously, something is wrong with those integrated teams because they've been spectacularly unsuccessful in dealing with the illegal trade in drugs, which has been building in this province for a long time and which has been far from silent in dealing with their disputes," said Gordon. Vancouver Mayor Sam Sullivan and even some police officers have said a regional force is needed. And in his 1994 report on policing, current Attorney-General and then-judge Wally Oppal called for a major crime unit to be formed for the Lower Mainland and Victoria. But yesterday, Les said in the legislature that there was no need for such a force. "I think we are properly organized to deal with these kinds of criminal activity and the debate about whether it should be this or whether it should be that is a bit of an unproductive red herring right now," said Les. "Obviously, you've got to have maximum sharing of information, and that is in fact happening," he said. Les said the province has funded 900 new police officers since 2002, including 600 for integrated units, mostly in the Lower Mainland. RCMP Supt. Wayne Rideout of the Integrated Homicide Investigation Team said: "The best way to tackle gang crime from an enforcement perspective [is through] co-ordinated investigations, working with external partners and working with all the police departments together with a cross-border approach." He also said it's important to educate children as young as seven about the dangers of gang involvement. "Parents of teens and young adults who don't work, but drive fancy cars, should be aware their children are likely involved with gangs," said Rideout. Sgt. Shinder Kirk, spokesman for the B.C. Integrated Gang Task Force, agreed that education is one of the keys to battling gangs. "We need to take a 360-degree approach," he said. "And a large component of that is of course enforcement. "But the other part of that is looking at the issues that give rise to these groups -- that's the issue of drug addiction, the glamorization of gangs." Everyone agrees that drugs fuel the gangs. Michael Chettleburgh, a street-gang expert based in Toronto, said B.C.'s gang violence is "lubricated by drugs" and drug reform must be addressed as part of any solution. "We are never going to get on top of this unless we get on top of drugs," said Chettleburgh. "The business of gangs is the business of drugs." - --- MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom