COPS STRETCHED THIN IN DRUG WAR

City cops' battle to snuff out the cocaine drug war on Edmonton
streets is bleeding staff away from other areas of crime, police
spokesman Sgt. Bryan Boulanger said yesterday.

"There is no doubt that the resources being assigned to the gang task
force will impact on other operational issues," Boulanger said.

"We have operational resources that are being taken away from some
areas and those aren't being backfilled. No doubt it will impact
operational activities."

Police will not go into any details of how many officers are assigned
to the task force, where they've been drawn from and what they're
doing for fear of tipping their plans to the gangsters.

One man has been killed and three wounded since bullets started flying
in earnest in June.

Boulanger said one area the task force won't be drawing strength away
from is the police's ongoing efforts to limit the activities of outlaw
motorcycle gangs.

In fact, he said, cops have noticed links between the predominantly
Vietnamese groups battling over dial-a-doper cocaine sales and bikers.

"The dynamics are that this entire affair can't be compartmentalized.
We suspect there might be some peripheral activity with other
organized crime entities, including local street gangs, including
outlaw motorcycle gangs but the power struggle that is currently going
on appears to be between two groups," Boulanger said.

"It's likely that there is but I'm not going to go into any other
detail because it's like a game of cards - we've got a hand, they've
got a hand. We're sitting at a table with others, but we're not about
to show our hand."

For that reason, it's "highly unlikely" the results of ballistic tests
on a handgun found near the scene of the latest shooting will be
released, Boulanger said.

No one has been arrested in any of the six shootings the city has seen
since June, most of which have been in broad daylight in crowded
public places.

The investigation has been slowed as shooting survivors rarely want to
speak to police, Boulanger said.

"We can't force them, we can't twist their arm," he said. "Our justice
system doesn't work that way. The only time these people become
compliant with us is when they're lying dead in the street."

Even some passers-by who have witnessed the gunplay are getting
nervous about their safety, Boulanger said.

"I am aware that some witnesses have expressed concern," he said.