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.