'YOU GOTTA GO AFTER THEM' - COP

Hamilton Police Say Major Crime Squad Pays Dividend In Fight
Against Gangs, Drugs, Guns

After a violent summer marked by 20 shootings, Hamilton police last
fall quintupled their guns and weapons enforcement unit, known as
"guns and gangs," to 15 officers from three.

"We had to react and we had to react quickly," said Supt. Glyn Wide,
who heads the unit.

Has it been successful? Just days ago, police arrested eight gang
members and seized six firearms and "a whole slew of cocaine," he said.

"Do you think a front-line patrol officer would come across that?" he
asked. "You gotta go after them."

Since the unit was bolstered in October 2005, the number of shootings
has dropped dramatically, and police have arrested 86 gang members and
43 gang affiliates and seized 67 firearms and "lots and lots of
drugs," he said.

A major crime squad to tackle gangs, drugs and guns, like the one
Windsor police announced this week, must be strategic and focused,
developing informants and following tips, Wide said. His force also
has a 16-officer vice and drug unit.

"It's seamless," he said of gangs, drugs and guns. "When you have a
gang member, you have a gun and you have drugs."

What's also important to note, Wide said, is that when police arrested
a gang member four days ago and searched his house, they seized a gun
stolen during a burglary. Tackling gangs, drugs and guns will also
reduce everyday crimes like break-ins, he said.

"It's a win-win situation," he said.

Everyday crimes such as break-ins can devastate ordinary people and
put settled neighbourhoods on edge, police say. Windsor police Chief
Glenn Stannard says he still remembers an older couple whose home in
the city's west end was broken into when they went to the market years
ago. After the break-in, their son told Stannard, the couple never
left the house together.

"That's like being hostage in your own home," Stannard said. "You
shouldn't have to live that way."

Break-ins, thefts and graffiti are what most residents are concerned
about, say those who participate in the city's Neighbourhood Watch
program.

"Almost every crime, everything from petty crime up to homicide, can
be connected to drugs," said Staff Sgt. Ed McNorton. "There is no
doubt if there is a decrease in drugs, we are going to see a decrease
in other crimes."

20 MORE OFFICERS

The plan to use an additional 20 officers to place at least two patrol
cars in every ward at all times is also aimed at increasing the
presence of police and speeding up their response time to calls, said
McNorton. "I've always thought we need a stronger police presence,"
said Erika Rebello, chairwoman of the Windsor Citizens' Crime
Prevention Committee. "It's a deterrent."

FIGHTING BACK

Windsor police have the 12th best rate in Canada for solving
homicides, clearing more than 90 per cent of the cases in the last 30
years. But they haven't been as successful at solving less serious
crimes such as break-ins and thefts, the chief admitted.

Forty-one per cent of all criminal offences last year were solved, but
only 19 per cent of property offences -- less than half the rate for
criminal offences -- were cleared.

That should change when police establish the major crime squad and an
investigation analysis branch and spend $1.8 million for more
officers, vehicles and high-tech equipment, police say.