Pubdate: Thu, 08 Mar 2007
Source: Globe and Mail (Canada)
Copyright: 2007, The Globe and Mail Company
Contact:  http://www.globeandmail.ca/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/168
Author: Petti Fong

GANG SHOOTINGS LEAD TO POLICE CRACKDOWN

VANCOUVER -- Vancouver police are planning a blitz in certain 
so-called "hot spots" to crack down on gun-toting gang members after 
a spate of shootings linked to fighting over turf in the illegal drug trade.

Starting this week, police will be gathering intelligence and then 
using information from sources to track down gang members.

One objective is to maximize the number of vehicles driven by gang 
members that are pulled over on Vancouver streets and use field 
interrogation techniques to determine whether there are outstanding 
warrants or other reasons to arrest individuals.

Last week, two men were killed in separate shootings, and two others 
were shot at close range near the entertainment district around 
Granville Street.

In the first deadly shooting, on 33rd and Arbutus, a man was gunned 
down while driving his BMW. A few days later, another man was shot 
several times in the head while he was heading to his car in the 1900 
block of West 1st Avenue.

The two men shot downtown were injured severely. One of them, if he 
survives, will be a quadriplegic. Neither of the victims is 
co-operating with police.

While police can draw no direct links between the four shootings, all 
victims were known to investigators and all were involved in the drug trade.

Vancouver Police Superintendent Kash Heed said the task force wants 
to deter more shootings before the violence erupts again.

In the latest round, a 26-year-old man was shot several times while 
walking in the Downtown Eastside along Cambie and West Hastings on 
Tuesday night

Police say he is known to investigators and was involved in the drug trade.

In the round-the-clock blitz, 20 officers will begin targeting gang 
members in areas like the Granville Street entertainment district.

Supt. Heed said highly visible uniformed patrol officers will also be 
on the street.

"We are out there in greater force with a specific focus on them," 
Supt. Heed said.

"There will be an immense concentration on locating and seizing 
firearms and we anticipate an increase in gun seizures with a 
subsequent decrease in gun violence in Vancouver."

Police will also be pressing for longer jail sentences and following 
the judicial process of gang members they arrest during the crackdown 
in an attempt to eliminate holes where they could slip back into violence.

Supt. Heed said Indo-Canadian gang members are involved and a recent 
eruption of violence in the Fraser Valley is associated with gang 
activity and the drug trade there.

The Asian gangs remain major players, but newer, less established 
gangs are also operating, including a Persian gang.

While marijuana remains a driving factor in the drug trade, other 
drugs such as cocaine are involved.

The police say they need to do a targeted enforcement suppression 
strategy because their resources are stretched.

Last week, Police Chief Jamie Graham appeared before city council and 
the mayor to request funds for 65 new officers to patrol the streets.

But council agreed to pay for only 17 new officers for the coming 
year despite the urgent need of more visible patrol officers to 
prevent violence, Chief Graham said.

Supt. Heed said police plan to be make arrests, but can't charge 
people just because they're known to be affiliated with gangs.
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