Pubdate: Sun, 26 Apr 2015 Source: Province, The (CN BC) Copyright: 2015 Postmedia Network Inc. Contact: http://www2.canada.com/theprovince/letters.html Website: http://www.theprovince.com/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/476 Author: Michael Smyth Page: 6 'CULTURE OF SILENCE' IS BIGGEST OBSTACLE TO ENDING DRUG WAR Police Call on Parents to Help Break Cycle in Wake of 23 Shootings in Two Months As police investigate the unsolved shooting death of Arun Bains, they are looking for any clues linking him to gun-packing drug dealers who have turned Surrey into a war zone. Police say the 22-year-old, shot dead in his car at 3 a.m. on April 19, was "known to be associated to the people connected to the street-level drug-trade conflict" that has resulted in 23 shootings in less than two months. But NDP MLA Harry Bains, the slain man's uncle, said his nephew didn't appear to lead the life of a flashy, big-spending gangster. "He didn't give any clues that he would have been involved in any of this stuff," said Bains, the three-term MLA for Surrey-Newton. If anything, Bains said, his nephew was happy, generous and typically short of cash. "He even borrowed money that day from his mom," Harry Bains said, adding his nephew needed the money to buy dinner and gasoline. "They (his parents) just bought him a new phone as well." Arun Bains, a former University of Victoria student, received a conditional discharge and six months probation on Jan. 29 for marijuana possession. A conditional discharge does not carry a criminal record, and Arun Bains' family says he was not a gang member. Harry Bains remembers his nephew as "a sweet kid" who was planning to take a computer course at BCIT and was about to start a new job. "He told his mom he got a job offer and he was going to give a surprise to his dad that he got a job," the heartbroken MLA said. "This comes as a total shock to all of us." But Harry Bains also acknowledged many parents simply don't know what their kids are up to, or the secret life they may be hiding. "Who knows when kids are out, who they hang out with and what they do?" he said. "A lot of times parents are the last people to know what's going on out there." And that's one of the key things police are focusing on as they try to solve the murder of Arun Bains and stop the shooting and bloodshed that has rocked Surrey and North Delta. "We need parents to help us break this cycle," said Sgt. Lindsey Houghton of the Combined Forces Special Enforcement Unit, the ant-igang police agency for B.C. "We used to be happy taking an illegal gun off the streets or seizing a kilo of cocaine or putting a dangerous person behind bars. But we need to do more. "Now we are knocking on parents' doors and saying, 'Look, this is what your child is up to. You may not know this or you may not want to know. But you have to know the truth because this is dangerous and if it doesn't stop you're going to be arranging your own child's funeral.' " Houghton spoke to concerned Surrey residents at a packed public meeting last Tuesday night where police distributed 800 information booklets to parents. (English, Punjabi and Chinese versions of the booklets can be downloaded at www.cfseu.bc.ca/en/end-gang-life). It's part of a program called End Gang Life that helps parents talk to their kids about drug-dealing and other crimes, while dispelling the myths that attract young people to a gang lifestyle in the first place. Some of the advice seems like common sense: Be aware what your kids are doing and who they're hanging out with. Be worried if they fail at school, bring home drugs or weapons or ditch good friends for delinquent friends. Houghton said many worried parents approached him at the meeting. "They'll say things like, 'I think my son is involved in dealing drugs or gang activity but he won't listen to me,' " Houghton said. "Our answer is, 'We can help you. But you also have to talk to your kids. You have to be involved in their lives.' " He said one challenge police face is parents who say they care but turn a blind eye to their kids' activities. He said he was particularly moved by a grandfather who got up at the meeting and, speaking Punjabi, bravely presented the audience with some hard truths. "He said, 'We need to get over this culture of silence, this culture of enablement, this culture that the first-born son can do no wrong.' We hear that over and over." Harry Bains said the death of his nephew has reinforced his own view that politicians are not doing enough to solve the problems. He called for more police, tougher punishments, more social services and more preventive programs to steer kids away from gangs. "We have to move away from the popular sloganeering approach and move to real solutions," he said. But Premier Christy Clark said Surrey has enough cops and enough programs for youth. "This is a problem of people failing to come forward," she said. "Anyone - any relative, any friend, any neighbour - who knows anything about these shootings in Surrey, I would call on them to come forward, because by coming forward and speaking out, they could very well be saving lives." - --- MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom