B.C. TO CRACK DOWN ON ORGANIZED CRIME

Planned Are A New Proceeds Of Crime Bill, More Police And Special Teams

The provincial government is bringing in sweeping changes to the way it
investigates and prosecutes organized and sophisticated crime, including
creating a new five-member "prosecutorial team" to help speed cases through
the courts.

When the legislature resumes sitting Feb. 8 for its last session before the
May 17 general election, the government will introduce a new "proceeds of
crime" bill that would force people accused of crimes to show that their
properties were not obtained with illegal funds.

And the province plans to hire 215 new RCMP officers to help promote
experienced and senior officers into special duties in fighting organized
and cyber crime, as well as in rural and first nations communities.

But the $122 million package, which will be spread over three years, also
includes a special task force within the attorney-general's ministry that
will assign five senior prosecutors to intensive police investigations soon
after they begin.

"It is a significant change in the way we will be prosecuting organized
crime," Premier Gordon Campbell said. "By having legal counsel involved
throughout the process, we think we will be more effective in terms of
investigation, in terms of evidence-gathering . . . and in terms of
convictions."

The province already assigns prosecutors on an ad-hoc basis to major
investigations, but this agreement -- which took nearly three years to
negotiate -- will formally address when and how Crown counsel work with
police, according to RCMP spokesman Sgt. John Ward.

The RCMP already works with federal prosecutors on proceeds-of-crime cases,
Ward said, but "this on the provincial side of the house will really help
. it is something we really look forward to doing."

B.C. appears to be trying to replicate the success of Quebec organized
crime-fighters, who have made a major dent in that province's outlaw
motorcycle gangs.

A recent Vancouver Sun series on organized crime found that more than 30
criminal prosecutions launched against members of the Hells Angels in B.C.
over the past decade have failed.

In Quebec, however, an aggressive campaign by special police squads,
coupled with teams of dedicated prosecutors, dramatically curbed the effect
of outlaw motorcycle gangs. In the last four years, almost 500 biker gang
members and their associates have been charged.

Ward said the use of the prosecutorial team will help steer police
investigations into more successful attacks on organized crime.

"We're very pleased with the announcement over all," he said. "Certainly it
is a big part of what we've asked for."

Geoff Gaul, director of legal services for the criminal justice branch of
the attorney-general's ministry, said it has not been decided where the
five prosecutors will be based, but they will be available to work on any
major investigation around the province.

Campbell used a provincially organized "provincial congress" conference
attended by B.C.'s MLAs, Members of Parliament, local municipal
organizations and first nations representatives, to make his announcement.

On the agenda of the one-day session were issues of federal, provincial and
local importance, including strategies for controlling the mountain pine
beetle infestation, improvements to the Pacific Gateway transportation plan
and research in life sciences.

But it was the province's unilateral plan to boost funding for police,
corrections and courts that took centre stage.

Under the sweeping proposal, which will be detailed in the province's
budget this spring, the 215 new RCMP positions include 89 positions for
major and serious crime units, a 14-member team to fight cyber crime, 32
officers for first nations communities, and 80 officers for rural
communities and general policing.

Campbell said most of the officers in the last category will go to
communities with fewer than 5,000 people, for which the province normally
has to cover most of the costs. It is the first time in more than a decade
that the province has added officers to its rural contingent.

(Under federal-provincial-municipal funding agreements, municipalities with
populations over 5,000 pay for policing from their own budgets.)

Ward said it will take some time for the RCMP to recruit the new officers,
although the training academy in Regina has the capacity to meet B.C.'s new
demand. Recruits will be used to free seasoned officers who will move into
the serious, major and cyber crime divisions.

Campbell and Solicitor-General Rich Coleman said the government will also
table new proceeds-of-crime legislation this spring for public discussion.
The measures, in which police and prosecutors would use civil courts to
seize assets they believe were products of crime, are controversial.

The province announced the legislative plans last year, but the proposal
became bogged down over constitutional questions and the presumption of a
person's innocence. Under the proposed legislation, the threshold for
seizure would not be as high as that required for a criminal conviction.

Coleman said the province was proceeding with the legislation after being
unable to convince the federal government to undertake the legislation itself.

People targeted under the new law, expected to be in place later this year,
would face the reverse onus of having to prove the asset was not purchased
with illegally obtained funds.

"If somebody buys a house, or buys a TV, or buys a car with cash that they
got as a proceed of crime . . . I don't think they should be allowed to
keep it," Coleman said.

Campbell said the legislation was sufficiently controversial to prompt the
government to first table the proposal in order to seek public consultation.

Conservative MP Randy White applauded the province, which he said is more
progressive in trying to fight modern crime than the federal government.

NDP House leader Joy MacPhail said Campbell's announcement sounded like one
he'd made two years ago. She called the announcement a cynical election
move, saying the Liberals had cut policing and corrections services since
their election in 2001.

More Police, More Money:

Where the 215 new officers will be used:

- - 89 officers for serious and major crime sections.

- - 14 officers for cyber crime (child pornography, seniors, lotteries, etc.)

- - 80 officers for rural communities and general policing.

- - 32 officers for first nations communities.

New recruits will be used to free experienced and senior officers for the
top categories.

How the $122 million will be spent over three years:

- - 2005-2006: $35 million ($30 million for police and corrections, $5
million for courts.)

- - 2006-2007: $42 million ($32 million for police and corrections, $10
million for courts.)

- - 2007-2008: $45 million ($34 million for police and corrections, $11
million for courts.)