Prince George, B.C. - There has been a Gang Task Force Unit in Prince George for some time, and Sergeant Raj Sidhu is the man in charge of that unit. Speaking on the Meisner program on 93.1 CFIS FM this morning,  Sidhu says it has been a very busy 6 months for the task force, “Since the start of April this year, 52 people have been charged in gang related matters, things like extortion and forcible confinement, more than 130 charges laid, it has been a very busy 6 months.”

 

Gang activity came to the forefront last December when rival gangs in Prince George got involved in  "the brawl at the mall" over money and to the delight of Christmas shoppers, money was wafting all over the area. That was followed by a fatal shooting at Moxies There have been a number of shootings in the Miller Addition and in the VLA areas of Prince George over the past year.

 

Gangs have been in the City for a number of years says Sidhu. “If you go back to ‘98 when the Renegades started their chapter here. Then we had an influx of Crew and I worked on a number of projects then and several of them received length sentences for their crimes. So when some go to jail there is an influx of those who try to take their space.” In the last two years the Independent Soldiers moved into town.

 

Sidhu says its difficult to peg just how many people are involved as the gangs are “fluid, the lines dividing them are very fuzzy and they do cross over. “You can’t just say this guy is working for the Independent Soldiers and that’s where he is, because tomorrow, his sister may be working with the crew and that’s where he goes, so you roughly have 100 people coming and going all the time”.

 

Young people are attracted to the lifestyles and the money says Constable Gary Godwin, “Hundreds of thousands of dollars and the high life, that’s what attracts them to it, but its not for a long time.”

 

Sidhu says the players are known “We know who the players are, people have been giving us information and sometimes we need more. If you look at the shooting downtown, there were a lot of witnesses and three people were charged and hopefully will go to jail for their crimes.”

 

Godwin says police support the efforts by the Province and by Alberta to make it as difficult as possible for gangs to operate.

 

“Its always about the money” says Sidhu and when it comes to cash, B.C. marijuana is in high demand. “But for us to take any action and take the matter to court is another matter.”

 

“Yes it is lucrative” says Gary Godwin, “but the gangs are very violent and sooner or later you are moving in to someone else’s turf and suddenly you’re fighting for your life.”

 

Cleaning up the downtown may not help battle the gang issue says Godwin, as many of the issues downtown have to do with homelessness. “Certainly gangs are contributing to downtown (through drugs) but there are more issues at play there .”

 

Sergeant Sidhu says gangs are looking for younger people to get involved, getting them to sell drugs  to their classmates, "We try to do our part, we try to intervene, we try to counsel, and the parents play a role in trying to bring their kids back, but some times its too late".

 

Sidhu says parents have to communicate with their kids, "You have to talk to  your kids,  if you ask them, they will tell you what's going on."

 

Sidhu says there are signs to watch for, as a parent or grandparent, there are red flags that  should be noticed "These days, kids are not going to come home with a t-shirt that  says I sell drugs.  Definitely you have to have open dialogue more as a friend than as an authoritarian figure.  If you see the kid  beng secretive with you, you should know  what your kids are up to on Facebook or MSN, these are big  factors in your kids life.  When kids start pulling away from you, coming home with cash, coming home with new clothes, or a brand new car.  You have to ask where did it come from?"