GANG SQUAD ARRESTS 53 AND LAYS 261 CHARGES

Attempted Murder, Drug And Gun Crimes Alleged

Children as young as 15 years old were among 53 people arrested and
charged with 261 criminal offences during a six-month Ottawa police
operation targeting three of the city's street gangs.

Attempted murder, assault, drug trafficking, robbery and possession of
firearms are among the charges police said were laid during the
enforcement and intelligence operation that went after the gangs'
illegal activity in several Ottawa neighbourhoods.

Police also seized four handguns, two shotguns and two stun guns.

"Violent crimes are part of what gangs are about," said Sgt. John
Medeiros, of the Ottawa police street gang unit, who headed up the
operation. "They are about intimidation, they are about assaults,
breaching court conditions, the sale of drugs, possession of weapons."

While previous operations focused on the Ledbury-Banff and Bayshore
area, the most recent operation, which involved six officers and ran
from September to March, expanded to include Centretown, Lowertown and
the Byward Market, Overbrook and Ottawa South.

"When you sell drugs you go where there are people who will buy the
drugs," said Sgt. Medeiros. "They are sort of set up all over."

Sgt. Medeiros estimated there are about 15 street gangs operating in
Ottawa, although only six are made up of older, more organized members
whose criminal activities are centred around cocaine trafficking. They
also deal in guns, prostitution and fraud.

The most recent arrests are the Ottawa police's latest offensive in
its on-going campaign against street gangs.

Last May, Ottawa police Chief Vince Bevan used the Boys and Girls Club
as a backdrop to announce that police had arrested 74 people and laid
217 gang-related charges over a six-month period.

Police said they launched that campaign after three high-profile
incidents from December 2004 involving random assaults and robberies
that outraged the public. That operation followed a threat assessment
of the city's street gangs following a large scale investigation into
the Ledbury-Banff Crips after the slaying of 23-year-old Bashir Sahal
in August 2003.

However, charges laid against many of the alleged gang-members from
the investigation into Mr. Sahal's homicide were withdrawn by Crown.

Sgt. Medeiros, who didn't know the status of the most recent charges,
acknowledged that some of them, potentially at least, will result in
acquittals or be dismissed. Nevertheless, he defended his unit's
pro-active approach to street gangs.

"We were definitely not cowboys," he said. "We reviewed police
occurrences and reports. We investigated after the fact. We did
compliance checks. We looked for persons who had warrants out for
their arrest."

Police are also promising to beef up their street gang unit in the
next few months with an additional seven officers made available as a
result of 95 new hirings made under a provincial program.

Sgt. Medeiros said the new 11-officer unit will also be changing its
name to the guns and gangs unit.