Pubdate: Thu, 14 Jun 2007 Source: Montreal Gazette (CN QU) Copyright: 2007 The Gazette, a division of Southam Inc. Contact: http://www.canada.com/montreal/montrealgazette/ Author: Katherine Wilton CITY'S STREET GANGS STEPPING UP On Par With Organized Crime, Cops Say. Problem Spreads Across, And Beyond, Island Montreal street gangs have cemented their place on the city's criminal landscape by forming alliances with the Mafia and the Hells Angels. The street gangs have become better organized and so sophisticated in their criminal dealings they can be compared to other major criminal organizations that have operated in the city for years, police said yesterday. "You can compare them to the bikers and other criminal organizations," Mario Plante, the Montreal police assistant director in charge of special squads, told reporters at a briefing. "I know some of them are working together. The main goal is to make money, and if they can do that by forming alliances, that's what they will do." The gangs now have their own businesses and are involved in money laundering, he said. They are also implicated in drug trafficking, prostitution and fraud. The fight against street gangs remains the force's top priority, Plante said, acknowledging the gangs are recruiting boys as young as 10 and 11. Between January and May, police seized 47 firearms while executing 117 search warrants across Montreal in a crackdown on street gangs. During the same period, police made 764 gang-related arrests, including arresting 128 minors, for crimes ranging from violating parole to murder. Montreal has 20 established street gangs and 30 emerging gangs with a total of between 350 and 500 members. Ten of the 17 homicides reported on Montreal Island in 2007 have been linked to street gangs. At the same time last year, eight of 18 homicides were tied to street-gang activity. Police have solved four of the 10 homicides linked to street gangs this year and have good leads in the six others. While there was a rash of gang-related homicides during the first two months of this year, there have been none since Feb. 25, Plante said. Many of the killings were the result of internal disputes or personal rivalries between gang members, not conflicts between rival gangs fighting for drug turf. Over the past several years, street gangs have been very active in Haitian communities in St. Michel and Montreal North. But the problem is spreading across the island, particularly in the west end, and to off-island cities such as Laval and Longueuil. In September, Montreal police received initial funds from $6 million budgeted over three years to help them fight street gangs. The police force has asked Quebec's Public Security Department for more money to finance enforcement efforts and expand prevention programs. Apart from using raids and arrests, police must maintain prevention programs they have started in schools and community centres in gang-plagued areas, said Pierreson Vaval, director of Equipe R.D.P., a community organization in Riviere des Prairies that works to keep teenagers out of street gangs. Police say they are doing just that. Since January, they met with 45,000 students, 7,600 parents and almost 2,000 school employees to warn them about street gangs. The force has also decided against referring to street gangs by their names and will no longer release pictures of street gang members to the media after an arrest, because the gangs love the publicity that garners. Plante said police can't solve the street-gang problem on their own. They need help from the public, who can call in gang-related tips anonymously by phoning Info-Crime at 514-393-1133. - --- MAP posted-by: Beth Wehrman