TEENAGERS 'COERCED' TO JOIN GANGS

Members Tortured Boy, Threatened To Kill His Family, Randy White Says

ABBOTSFORD - Abbotsford police are investigating allegations that
local teens are being coerced into joining criminal gangs with
threats of death and torture, detachment spokesman Const. Casey Vinet
said Tuesday.

The probe was launched after retiring Conservative MP Randy White
said he helped to relocate a teenaged male who was forced to flee
Abbotsford because of gang violence.

"I know for a fact he was tortured. I saw the damage and had pictures
taken of it," White said of the youth, whom White refused to identify
because of concerns for his safety. "He was beaten and burned, and
told if he said anything it would get a lot worse.

"This is a kid with a lot of courage, but he was darned scared."

White said he became involved in the case during the summer after the
youth's parents went to his office pleading for help.

According to White, the youth had become ensnared in a local criminal
group that calls itself the UN gang. White said the youth was
recruited against his will to act as "muscle" in collecting money from debtors.

The youth was tortured, and told his family would be killed if he
didn't comply with the gang's wishes, White said.

"This is not a kid who has done drugs or done bad," White said. "This
is a kid who was scared and thought he was protecting his family."

White said the youth's family ran into a series of dead ends when
they sought help for the boy through social services and the police,
when the youth refused to testify against his aggressors for fear of
retaliation.

Meanwhile, White said, the school district expelled the youth in
September after rumours of his gang ties reached administrators.

White said he recently made the decision to pay out of his own pocket
to move the youth away from Abbotsford. He is now back in school and
doing well, White said, adding that he is soliciting private support
to pay for the youth's living expenses.

White said he agreed to put up his own money because he believed the
youth was going to be killed if he remained in town, but he's angry
there seemed to be no other alternative, he said.

"Should I have had to do this? No. Should I have had to pay his way
out of here? No. Should somebody have been there to support him in
the first place? Yes," he said.

"There is something truly wrong with our society that innocent people
have to leave town and the people who make it that way are still
there, still doing their rotten business."

White, who is not seeking re-election, called for a tougher approach
to gang activity, particularly at the court level.

"For kidnapping, torture and coercion they should get a long time in
prison," White said. "If we don't show them there are serious
consequences to these actions, it's going to be your child next. In
fact, I would suggest, they've probably already got someone else's child."

White said the problem of gang coercion is wider than he thought.
Since becoming involved in the youth's case, he has learned of two
other people, he said, who have recited similar stories. One of them
is now in hiding, fearing for his life, White said.

Abbotsford police said they are aware of the initial case White
commented on, but, according to Vinet, were not at liberty to discuss details.

Vinet said police did try to work with the youth to resolve his
concerns, but said he was too afraid to comply.

Vinet said the youth's credibility is not in question, adding police
are now looking into the possibility that other teens have fallen
prey to gang coercion.

Vinet said gang activity in Abbotsford is "cause for concern, but not alarm."

"Our schools and our kids are safe, but, certainly, we do need to
focus on this particular incident to see if there are any other cases
like it happening," he said.

Vinet said police can't solve the issue of gang violence alone.

"We agree that a concerted effort by police, educators, parents and
the community and all levels of government is needed."

Vinet said the UN gang is known to police. It is described as a
loosely knit criminal organization made up of a core group of 35 to
40 members of various nationalities, and is principally involved in
the illegal drug trade.

Const. Shinder Kirk of the Lower Mainland's Integrated Gang Task
Force said police take the issue of gang violence seriously.

"There are a number of investigators out in the field looking at
breaking these crime groups," he said.

One of the principal complications of arrest, however, remains
witnesses refusing to testify out of fear of retaliation.