Investigators Hope To Bring Gang Expert to Prince George

Wednesday, February 06, 2008 04:24 AM

Prince George, B.C. - RCMP in Prince George are working towards having the head of the Integrated Gang Task Force in the lower mainland of B.C. come to Prince George.

Sergeant Shinder Kirk of the Abbotsford Police is a gang expert, and police here could learn from him “We would like to have a session with Sergeant Kirk for the police in the morning, and session for the public in the afternoon” says RCMP Media Liaison Constable Gary Godwin. “He is a wealth of knowledge and can bring everyone up to speed on gang issues.”

At the moment, Kirk is scheduled to come to Prince George in May, but, says Godwin, “May is a long way away.”

RCMP are investigating several shootings that have rocked Prince George since the beginning of the New Year. There have been five shootings in five weeks. Those shootings have left one person dead , another critically injured and a third male wounded. Constable Godwin says there are several people working on the cases “I can say that a number of officers have been assigned to the investigations now that their other projects are complete.”

Yet, police are not ready to link the shootings and the request to have Kirk come to Prince George doesn’t mean they believe the shootings are all gang related.

The violence seems to have followed the Christmas Eve “Brawl at the Mall”, an incident that had members of two gangs battling while money wafted through the air to the delight of last minute shoppers, Constable Godwin says investigators are not yet able to connect all the dots and say the shootings are related.

Chronology of Violence

Jan 2./08 - 11:57 p.m. - 2600 Block of Victoria Street 20 year old male is shot and critically injured

Jan 3 /08 - 12:07 a.m. - 1100 Block Of LaSalle Crescent shots fired by high powered rifle, no one hurt
Jan 3 /08 - 11:33 a.m.- 2200 block of Norwood Street. Shots fired, dog hurt, three males arrested sawed off shot gun and semi-automatic handgun seized
Jan 24 /08 - 4:45 p.m. - East Central 21 year old male shot and killed in restaurant parking lot
Feb 4 / 08 - 3:50 a.m. - Quince Street, 19 year old male suffers non life threatening wound

Constable Godwin says while the targets are “known to police” there is not enough evidence yet to indicate if the shootings are “gang related,” drug related, or a matter of settling old scores because of a slight, a perceived slight or an effort to “save face.”

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Posted on Wednesday, February 06, 2008 04:24 AM in News by 250 News

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Comments

Posted by: Eagleone on February 6 2008 10:48 AM

Why weren't those guns registered? Is that only for the law abiding citizens?

Do the police assume these people are all unarmed when dealing with them because they are not on the registry list, or is it business as usual assuming that all have guns and not all are registered, and if that is so, then why do the rest of us law abiding citizen have to register guns if the gun registry so obviously has no effectual impact on crime prevention or actual police work?

IMO it is clear that people that use guns to get their way have their task made easier when the population is already disarmed prior to their attempts to intimidate.

Posted by: Anastasia on February 6 2008 10:50 AM

that is great that they are bringing in someone with a wealth of knowledge, and hands on experience, lets just hope that it helps with trying to bring these horrendous "gang style" shootings from continuing!

Posted by: Harbinger on February 6 2008 11:39 AM

Throw these gangs in the river to melt the ice. And it won't cost thousands of dollars a day.

Posted by: RRrabbitt on February 6 2008 11:46 AM

Bring in a "gang expert" ?? WTF !!!

A GANG EXPERT ?? ... you have all kinds of "gang experts" right here there in town !!

Well this is just SO frustrating... the simple, most effective approach here is to make the City a "gang free" zone.

Wanna be a gang member, "known to police" ??? Fine... get outta town and don't come back... take your trash with you.

Hand wringing, social activist, soft-wristed, do-gooders and family enabling justifiers ??? ... great... next bus outta town !

Mothers crying and sobbing into the camera, pleading for understanding and compassion for their little, misunderstood, "slightly bent", so sad, othewise good boy, "Johnny" ... get REAL !!

Being a victim of crime is no fun, life is tough enough without having precious time subtracted by incontinent, social parasites.

Welcome to Prince George... this is a GANG FREE zone.

So let it be written... so let it be done.

Posted by: Harbinger on February 6 2008 12:21 PM

Vancouver had signs saying it was a nuke free zone. Hey! That worked, didn't it?

Posted by: Harbinger on February 6 2008 12:24 PM

How about a tar and feather committee? Lotsa rails to ride 'em outa town on, too. Maybe tar and feathers are too costly these days. Also I notice there are no tar or feather stores in this town. Could try eBay.

Posted by: seamutt on February 6 2008 12:30 PM

The cops probably know most of the gangbangers and who did the shooting but their hands are tied. Who have tied their hands you ask? The dope smoking free loving liberal general arts grads out of the sixties. These are the ones who are know the judges and beaurocrates who keep keep these losers out of jail. Know the general arts spawn of these people, who probably have never worked an honest day, are starting to take over.

Posted by: metalman on February 6 2008 12:57 PM

To more or less paraphrase eagle one, and ressurect an old saw:

"When guns are outlawed,
only outlaws will own guns"

May I respectfully submit that there are a lot of us, I dare say a majority, who do not agree with the feds and their feeble attempts at making society safer by disarming all the law abiding (and TAXPAYING!) citizens of this once great nation. The trouble is, it is not enough to just mind your own business and keep out of their way when these drug dealing filth are out and about. They apparently do not care about innocent bystanders when they are evening the score with one of their own. Something has to be done.
metalman.

Posted by: SPIKE! on February 6 2008 2:53 PM

I hope this Gang Expert is better than the so called Ice Expert our Chief of Command or his Staff found!

Posted by: Raparee on February 6 2008 3:12 PM

I'd disagree with you, metalman, that the majority of Canadians would not agree with the firearms legislation. It passed through parliament with a majority vote. The curent government is aware of the public's support for the legislation, that they've taken the undemocratic move of strangling the program by cutting off funding, instead of putting it to a vote in parliament.

I'd just like to point out that we had the opportunity to begin this dialogue 7-8 years ago, but the RCMP CO squelched the idea, saying that most of the residents of PG weren't aware of the town's gang problem, and having public meetings and symposia would just alarm them. Everyone could have been "brought up to speed" years ago, and we could be well on our way to dealing with these gang-banging dinks.

Posted by: Death to Socialism on February 6 2008 3:18 PM

As long as we have prohibition we will have gangs and an end to prohibition isn't going to happen in our lifetimes. Thank the temperance movement.

Posted by: Honestjoe on February 6 2008 5:38 PM

Another expert? First an "ice expert" who told us to wait until Spring and the ice would melt. We could all give that advice at a fee of $1000 per day.
Now, a "gang expert". Will the taxpayers also pay him a $1000 per day. Plus expenses of course.
My dictionary defines an expert as: "ex" is a "has been" and "spirt" is a drip under pressure.
You be he judge.....lol!

Posted by: acrider54 on February 6 2008 5:42 PM

They can't control gangs down there, why waste money? I know....another study. Take away guns and only the crooks and cops will have them.

Posted by: SPIKE! on February 6 2008 6:09 PM

As much as I hate to agree with "Death to Socialism". I have been unable to find any Item or Idea that has been successfully prohibited. So lets get rid of these small time Gangsters by letting the biggest Gangsters in the history of mankind The Government take over the drug trade and that will take the life out of the small gangs. I know there is and always will be alot of problems with substance abuse in our society so lets try to end the Violence.

Posted by: Harbinger on February 6 2008 7:17 PM

If you want any business (except for liquor and gasoline) to fail, just get the three levels in government involved. If the gangsters are too busy filling out forms and submitting money to the government, I think they would think twice about being involved with drug running, let alone any other business.

Posted by: Chester on February 6 2008 9:17 PM

I support and encourage the sharing of resources. Especially if it will help our local forces be more effective. We need every advantage we can get. Chester