ANTI-GANG UNIT SETS UP SHOP

HOBBEMA -- The RCMP have opened an office on the Montana First Nation
reserve to house officers dedicated to fighting gang violence on
local reserves.

The office was opened on Monday, which was also a day marking
Montana's treaty day celebration.

The RCMP satellite office will accommodate the community response
unit that was established earlier this spring to address gangs and
violence in Hobbema, said Cpl. Wayne Oakes of RCMP headquarters in Edmonton.

The location on the Montana reserve will serve to ensure a more
consistent presence in the community, Oakes said.

The RCMP and the First Nations in Hobbema signed Alberta's largest
community tripartite agreement on March 2.

Under the agreement, the First Nations have their own dedicated,
onsite, community-based contingent of members from an existing police
service, Oakes said.

Efforts are made for RCMP services to be staffed by aboriginal police members.

The ceremonies were attended by Wetaskiwin MP Blaine Calkins, Montana
Chief Carl Rabbit and other First Nations Chiefs Victor Buffalo,
Simon Threefingers and assistant chief Gerry Ermineskin and regional
Chief Jason Goodstriker of the Alberta First Nations.

Other politicians included Lacombe-Ponoka MLA Ray Prins and
Wetaskiwin MLA LeRoy Johnson.

Hobbema has been beleaguered by gang violence for the last two years.

Three rival gangs and what's described as two sub-groups are battling
to increase their share of the illegal drug trafficking on the reserves.

The violence is mainly occurring among youth.

About 60 per cent of the 12,000 people who live on the reserves are
under 19 years of age.