PREMIER TO GANGS: 'WE'RE COMING AFTER YOU'

Province Uses Federal Funds To Hire More Police Officers, Set Up
Organized-Crime Teams

EDMONTON - A promise to boost police ranks in the next six months is
just one plan Premier Ed Stelmach announced Tuesday to head off gang
and drug crime across the province.

"The issue of gang activity has been on the rise," he said. "Innocent
people being shot. It's not the kind of Alberta we want."

Last year, Edmonton had the highest rate of gang-related murders in
Canada. Cases are on the rise this year -- of 24 homicides on record
in the city, police consider seven to be connected in some way to
organized crime.

Stelmach said Tuesday the province plans to spend $42.4 million in
federal funding on four new organized-crime teams, made up of 83
officers and civilians.

Edmonton will get cash for a team of 24 -- 14 Edmonton police spots
and 10 RCMP positions.

In addition to the 83 new policing spots, Stelmach hinted at drug
treatment and prevention programs to come.

He also said the province's police and probation officers have been
dispatched to target 60 repeat offenders by monitoring them and
working more closely with Crown prosecutors on their cases.

"The infusion of officers sends a clear message to those who have no
respect for the law," Stelmach said.

"The message is: 'We're coming after you.' "

Edmonton police Chief Mike Boyd applauded Stelmach's announcement,
calling it a comprehensive approach to gang-related crime.

"It's not all about arresting everybody and putting them in jail," he said.

"This is going to be another significant number of officers that's
going to help us target the work that we need to get done."

Alberta Liberal justice critic Kent Hehr said the announcement was a
disappointment because it fell far short of what the province's
police chiefs sought.

"When we break this down, areas like Calgary are getting only 14 new
police officers," he said. "An area like Edmonton, (that has) been
asking for substantially more, is only getting 14 new officers."

In recent months, Boyd and Calgary police Chief Rick Hanson have put
pressure on the provincial government for as many as 800 new
officers. Hanson called Stelmach's announcement a "great start."

The Calgary area will get an organized-crime team the same size as
Edmonton's. Southern Alberta will get 12 new police positions and
northern Alberta seven. The balance of new spots will go to the
Criminal Intelligence Service of Alberta and the Integrated Child
Exploitation team.

"When I talked about our need for between 300 and 400 people a month
ago, I'm talking about a need that we've identified, and
realistically think we can implement over the course of three, 31/2,
four years," Boyd said.

NDP Leader Brian Mason said his party has called for 800 new
officers, saying the number announced Tuesday amounted to "peanuts."

"This is clearly another example of the government reacting to
situations instead of anticipating things. Alberta has lagged far,
far behind in the number of police officers per capita and this
government has had four years to fix the problem.

"Instead, they've waited until the situation is out of hand. We're
getting people shot in restaurants and on the street."

Although Alberta's police departments have had difficulty recruiting
officers in recent years because of high salaries in the energy
sector, Boyd doesn't anticipate any trouble finding new officers. "We
fill each one of our recruit classes. It's a challenge, but we are
able to do it."

He still plans to ask the city to make room in its budget to hire 110
officers next year.

"It's difficult to recruit at times, depending on what the economy
does," said Bob Meredith, a staff relations representative for
Edmonton-area RCMP.

An economic downturn could mean more young people seeking jobs as Mounties.

While Meredith also approved the injection of new police resources
across the province, he pointed out the plan to build new
crime-fighting teams could make for short-term pain as police
departments "rob Peter to pay Paul."

Experienced people, he said, will likely be pulled from detachments
to focus their energies on gang activity, and local detachments will
recruit younger, more inexperienced people.

"It takes a long time to get up to speed, (but) it's good news any
time we get an increase in resources," he said.