PEOPLE FEEL SAFER AFTER CRACKDOWN ON GANGS

Seizing Vehicles, Rousting Gangsters From Clubs

The arrests of gangsters wearing body armour and driving bulletproof
vehicles illustrates what police are up against, says Vancouver police
gang squad Insp. Dean Robinson.

"Being a gangster is a dangerous lifestyle so they're roaming around
in bulletproof vehicles and are wearing body armour -- it makes them
feel invincible," said Robinson, who heads the Lower Mainland's
uniformed Integrated Gang Task Force.

After just over a month in operation, Robinson said, the squad has
been successful in stemming gang violence with its sweeps of liquor
establishments and other places gangsters like to frequent.

Police are targeting gangsters with everything from vehicle checks to
roustings at nightclubs. Known criminals are being put on a banned
list and warned not to return.

The unit was formed after 10 murders in just one month this fall in
the Lower Mainland.

Robinson said 74 tickets and 28 roadside suspensions have been issued,
and 23 criminal charges laid.

"There's been seven firearms seized and there's been several sets of
body armour along with two armoured vehicles that have been seized,"
said Robinson.

The Cadillac Escalade and the Chevy Suburban had bulletproof glass and
other modifications that made them far too heavy to be insurable.

"These vehicles were so heavy they don't have sufficient braking power
and in an emergency would not be able to stop," said Robinson.

Abbotsford Sgt. Shinder Kirk of the regional Integrated Gang Task
Force said seizing the vehicles "is like taking some of their weapons
away. . . It is their security."

Robinson said he is hearing from owners of bars and nightclubs that
the crackdown is working.

"People are feeling safer at the clubs -- that was the goal -- to keep
the violence down," said Robinson.

"I recently sat down with some bar owners and managers and they are
happy."

John Teti, who heads Barwatch, an association of about 30 liquor
establishments in the downtown, said the police presence is working.

"The program has been very very positive," he said.