PROVINCE TAKES AIM AT ORGANIZED CRIME

Calgary's respite from gang slayings lasted eight months -- this
time.

But a flurry of gunfire near a Calgary truck stop earlier this month
was a reminder that gang warfare can erupt anywhere, any time.

And it can erupt in any part of Alberta, Solicitor General Harvey
Cenaiko said Wednesday after an additional $4 million and several
initiatives targeting organized crime were unveiled in the provincial
budget.

"We've seen over the last few years an increase in organized crime
activity," Cenaiko said in an interview.

"It's not just in Calgary or Edmonton. It's the whole
province."

To thwart its growth, Alberta plans to create a 20-member surveillance
team to work with the Integrated Response to Organized Crime unit. At
the same time, a new unit of correctional staff would keep tabs on
gang activity in the province's prisons.

"We want to make sure that we know who the (gang) individuals are and
share that . . . with police," Cenaiko said.

Gangs aren't the only facet of crime and justice receiving attention
in the budget.

Roughly $6 million is slated to hire as many as 80 RCMP officers, a
boost nearly as great as last year, when 100 officers were added.

The officers are desperately needed in small communities, said Don
Johnson, president of the Alberta Association of Municipal Districts
and Counties.

"This is significant for rural Alberta," Johnson said. "One of the
problems we have in rural Alberta is the (marijuana) grow ops and
crystal meth. . . . If you don't have a police presence there, the
criminals will come."

Johnson's enthusiasm for the province's policing plans wasn't shared
by Calgary Mayor Dave Bronconnier.

"It's just the same as last year," Bronconnier said. "Zero plus zero
is still zero."

Earlier this month, city council accepted a provincial funding deal
for police that gives the city $16 per Calgarian, instead of the $34
that had been sought.

Cenaiko said Calgary's share is more like $50 a head when funding for
organized crime programs and revenue from speeding tickets and other
infractions are taken into account.

Even so, Bronconnier maintained that more money is needed to help
police rein in criminals in the boom city.

"Organized crime is here. Gangs are here. There is more violent
crime," he said. "There is additional resources that are required for
policing, and the provincial government's take on it is six per cent
ought to be enough of a contribution."

The province, meanwhile, plans to contribute more prosecutors, judges
and clerks to the court system. Justice Minister Ron Stevens said the
influx of manpower will help shorten waiting times for trials.

The number of new judges is still being decided, Stevens said, but 25
extra prosecutors are planned, about half of them specializing in
areas such as domestic violence, child exploitation and organized crime.

"This is something the court system hasn't seen for a decade," Stevens
said.