NEW KIND OF GANG BRINGS TERROR TO STREETS

Violence Anything But A Last Resort

They're not just street punks who roam in the same easy-to-track packs.

They are, in fact, a new kind of urban terrorist -- young criminal blood
that's unpredictable, volatile, armed, angry and dangerous.

The evidence lies in a recent spate of violence on Calgary's streets,
incidents saturated with bullets sprayed by shooters with no regard for
innocents getting caught in the crossfire.

"There can be all kinds of situations driving this particular violence,
competition over a particular product being pushed -- marijuana, cocaine,
meth. Or settling scores, or a slight. It could be any number of issues,"
says Insp. Ian Cameron, head of the Criminal Intelligence Service of Alberta.

These street gangs are the "lowest form" of organized crime groups.

Their level of sophistication and intelligence may be low, but their
"propensity for violence is very high," he says.

"Their tendency to use violence in an overt fashion is significantly higher
than other crime groups. You see it played out if this last incident in
Calgary is gang related."

Calgary police say this incident that claimed the life of a 22-year-old man
was indeed gang related.

Not everyone at the Shaken Drink Room, on the crowded Red Mile, was out for
a night of fun on Feb. 26.

An argument sparked gunfire in the club and John Pheng was shot dead. The
gunfight spilled out onto 17th Avenue, bullets piercing several vehicles,
mercifully missing innocent clubbers.

So far this year there have been about a dozen incidents across the city
involving the use of firearms.

On Feb. 7, a bullet penetrated the windshield of a woman's vehicle as she
stopped at a red light in the northeast. She was on her way to work.

On Jan. 4, Jaspreet Rahal, 25, was gunned down as he left Gold's Gym at
Northland Village Shoppes.

Police have revealed some of the incidents are linked to gangs. The two
murdered men were known to them.

In 2003, Pheng was jailed after pleading guilty to assault with a weapon.
He hit a man over the head with a baseball bat during a brawl in a downtown
alley.

Pheng's friend Vuthy Kong was convicted of manslaughter for stabbing Adam
Miu, 18, during that fight.

Rahal, meanwhile, was known to be heavily involved in the drug trade.

Last week police said they are tracking gang members involved in a number
of drive-by shootings in 2002 and 2003, believed to be involved in the
latest outbreak of violence.

Chief Jack Beaton essentially declared war on gang violence. Whom, exactly,
is it that he declared war on?

A fluid group of youngish players motivated by the greed and power easy
money breeds.

Unlike older established organized ethnic and outlaw biker gangs, the
loyalty and allegiance of these "chameleon-like" punks tends to lie more
with the crime at hand than the players they team up with.

Calgary police are justified in their reluctance to pinpoint any one ethnic
group because of the co-operation between competing groups and inter-racial
mixing, says Cameron.

"If it appears to be individuals of Asian race, then predominantly that's
the issue. I would also say there'll be Caucasians in that mix," he says,
citing an example.

Many of these players who have immersed themselves in crimes swirling
around drugs, prostitution and extortion are in their teens.

There's no doubt someone "well-insulated" is pulling their strings.

"We see constant collaboration between groups that are more established
contracting up-and-coming criminals to do things," says Cameron.

That up-and-coming criminal could be sitting next to your son or daughter
in a school classroom.

"Some of them work, some of them go to school," says Staff Sgt. Sean Doyle
of the city police community response unit.

Their roles in the gang shift depending on the crime at hand. An "informal
leadership" dominates each crime.

"Whatever the need, there's the one who takes the lead. Some are good as
drug traffickers, some with weapons," says Doyle.

Many of them strut around with pockets jammed with cash.

"A lot of the ones we nab have $1,000 in their jeans. We're looking at
teens -- 15- and 16-year-olds to people in their mid-20s," says Doyle.

He advises parents to be wary if their children have "large, unexplained
amounts of money."

Sudden change in behaviour and friends, withdrawal from family activities
and paranoia, expensive jewelry and clothing are other warning signs.

Calgary's street gangs don't wear distinctive clothes like American gangs,
says Doyle. They don't have multiple tattoos and drive two-wheeled machines
like outlaw bikers.

Many Calgary parents have made their way into the northeast

office of MP Art Hanger, known for his fearless and tough stand on crime.

"Mothers, fathers, mostly mothers, whose young people have been killed,
badly maimed or threatened come in," says Hanger.

Or, their children may not be involved themselves but they have friends who
"go to places where gang members hang out," he says.

"Parents are appalled that their kids are brushing shoulders with them.
Other parents are afraid their kids will be enticed into it," he said.

Street gang activity is connected to organized crime and is "spilling into
every community," says Hanger.

"Anywhere there's a dollar to be made you can be sure there's an
organization behind it. And there are always those on the fringes striving
to be part of it."

Parents are worried and frustrated.

"They don't see much of a response from the authorities to deal with this
violence," says Hanger.

"Municipalities are really the ones who have to deal with it. The federal
government has a significant role to play and they are not playing it.

"It takes a national strategy to deal with this -- particularly the drugs
and prostitution. It irks me to no end to see the feet of clay the federal
politicians have. There is a despicable procrastination on the part of the
politicians."

He says police are struggling, seemingly in isolation, to do what they can.

Calgary's Ward 13 alderman and former police commission member says Calgary
police aren't on top of this.

"I believe they are so overwhelmed with the magnitude of the crisis, they
are scrambling," says Diane Colley-Urquhart.

On the heels of Pheng's killing, Beaton assured Calgarians that crime,
overall, is down in the city.

"Quoting statistics that Calgary is safer now -- less homicides, robberies
etc. -- does nothing to assuage the community who are intimidated and live
in fear," says Colley-Urquhart.

"People want to know that they can walk on the street, go to the pub, sit
in the park -- all without fear of being randomly victimized."

The street gang problem is deep-rooted, she says.

"I don't think we've seen the last of it yet. There is an increasing amount
of crime within diverse communities in Calgary. We need to get to the
bottom of this," she says.

A battle must be waged on many fronts, she says.

"I don't believe we're going to solve this problem by counting bullet
casings in pools of blood."

Colley-Urquhart is setting up a meeting this month with leaders of
multi-cultural communities. At issue will be the increase in violence and
the security of the communities being threatened by street gangs.

"These people are isolated. I don't know how deep-rooted CPS is in these
communities," she says.

"We give a lot of lip service to safe and secure communities. They're
terrified, intimidated, threatened. Many times, those are the reasons they
left their communities to come to this wonderful city," she says.

"There are, for example, many different groups within the Vietnamese
community. You need to understand the dynamics. They have four or five
street gangs."

There are only about 12,000 members in the Calgary Vietnamese community.

The entire Calgary community must unite, says Colley-Urquhart.

"It's not just a policing problem. This requires a concerted effort of
community leaders to come together. Silence doesn't work. We cannot have an
ambivalent disregard."

The gang violence Calgary is experiencing is a reflection of what is going
on across Canada, experts say.

In Edmonton, nearly half of the 28 homicides is 2004 were gang-related.

Edmonton police have said there are more than 600 known gang members
divided among 17 groups.

Activities elsewhere impact Calgary.

"Calgary has been having problems for a long time. When the pressure is on
in Vancouver, they just move to Calgary," says Tony Lee, a gang
intelligence analyst with the Toronto police.

"Vancouver has been cracking down for a long time. They're moving around to
escape the heat."

And busy carrying on with business.

"Vietnamese youth gangs are heavily involved in drugs, including marijuana
grow operations, ecstasy and extortion -- but extortion within their own
community," said Lee.

Vietnamese gang members average in age from 17 to 19 years. Chinese gang
members tend to be 18 years and older, he said.

"I thought all of this was behind us in the '80s and '90s, that it died
down. But the Vietnamese have become busy doing marijuana grow houses.
There's less jail time if you are caught," he says.

Toronto has been wrestling with black and Latino gangs.

Authorities tackled the problem by setting up task forces including the
Street Violence Task Force, Guns and Gang Task Force and the Urban
Organized Crime Squad.

"We see a lot of 16- and 17-year-olds with guns," says Lee.

"Eighteen months ago there was a shooting every week. We were surprised if
we didn't get a shooting report on Monday. We can go three or four weeks
without a shooting."

In Vancouver, there have been 84 homicides in the east Indo-Canadian gang
world since 1984.

"We're finding everything is enterprise based -- who owes, who is
collecting, who is interfering with somebody's business," says gang expert
Jim Fisher with the Vancouver Police Department.

"We're reacting to the violence at street level that is scaring citizens
here. That's what scares people most is the randomness."

Fisher cautions against knee-jerk police reaction to public fear and
pressure because it only brings "temporary relief."

Young hard-core gangsters don't react to what police are doing, he said.

"When you get to this stage of violence those who are ready to perpetuate
violence say 'I can get away with this.'

"The guys who are doing the shooting, they're not going to be
rehabilitated, they need to be incarcerated."

There is speculation among some law enforcement officials that Calgary's
success with marijuana grow operation busts -- more than $100 million in
street value last year -- may be a contributing factor to the escalating
violence.

Major busts mean less profit. Less profit can lead to grow rips which
"heighten the violence," says Fisher.

CISA's Cameron agrees.

"That could be part of the reason. The success of one part of the
organization may be adding pressure to these guys in competition for those
areas," he says.

Completed investigations will tell.

In the meantime, Cameron warns that young criminals mature.

"Street gangs, or youth gangs, mature into organized crime groups. Street
punks become insulated organized crime figures in the province."