POLICE GOING INTO SCHOOLS TO WARN ABOUT GANGS

Teachers at Duchess Park secondary wanted first look at the
presentation their students will soon be receiving about the gang
activity in Prince George. RCMP Const. Lesley Smith recently launched
the public presentation, and the focus is on high school students. She
was pleased that the teachers, as a group, wanted the knowledge right
up front.

"This is the first time delivering the presentation to just teachers,
and the first time at Duchess," said Smith. A number of Grade 8 and 9
classes at DPSS are scheduled to see it in February.

"We've already had a few youth come forward to us since we started doing
these presentations," Smith told about 20 teachers and administrators at
DPSS. The first was done only in December, after months of planning and
designing the powerpoint presentation entitled Prince George Gangs: The
Truth Behind the Promises. "The information we've got in here is
specifically about Prince George gangs and what they are doing here."

It is graphic in nature. Photos of real gang beatings, stabbings and
finger removal are shown. Girls face that if they fall prey to gangs
they will have to perform sexual favours on command, boys face the
spectre of torture and mutilation if they don't do exactly as they are
ordered. Local gangs trick good kids into situations where they feel
they have no choice but to comply, and then they are literally owned
by organized criminals.

Smith has more than a dozen all-local, real life gang stories to
explain to kids what happens once you are in the gang world, even if
you're just hanging out with connected people. The stories all involve
heinous pain inflicted on people over petty issues. All these stories
are true and have gone through the courts in Prince George. The three
she chose for the DPSS teachers all occurred in their student
catchment area within the last 16 months.

The presentation lays out a list of promises gangs make to prospective
members. It lays out the little jobs and big offers at the start, and
where it quickly leads once you take a few hesitant steps towards a
gang - even before you know it is even a gang you're involved with. It
also shines a few rays of hope: that law enforcement is fighting back,
that teens are resisting gangs here, that there are signs to look for
and alternatives to choose.

"It seems the police are aware, they know the major gang players, so
the inevitable question is, why aren't they being arrested?," one
teacher asked.

"They are," Smith responded, saying on a recent stint she did with the
drug unit they were executing two to three search warrants a week on
known crackshacks and drug-associated properties, and arrests were
frequent, in spite of gang members who have expensive lawyers and
layers of concocted alibis. "As (drug unit commander Sgt.) Raj Sidhu
said, we are chipping away at the iceberg."

DPSS principal Sherry Thibault jumped in then to clarify that the
school's position was to report any and all gang-related activity
immediately, if it becomes known to school staff.

"Every time we get a tip, we call it in. It keeps adding pressure,"
she said.

"We have phoned police in the past about things going on in the
school, and the response time is quite lengthy. What language should
we be using on the phone to let police know that something urgent is
going on?," another teacher asked.

Smith explained how in-progress threats got priority, for obvious
reasons, over harassment events of the past, although both would be
responded to. If something is underway like a dealer selling drugs or
thugs in the school to intimidate someone, that would be nearer the
top of any police call-out list.

The staff and Smith all talked then about an incident only days before
in which police sent a number of members to DPSS to make sure a
perceived drug-related incident was averted.

"This presentation for our staff is a great place to start," said
Thibault. "Informing staff I think is a phenomenal thing for our
students, because the message will be getting out in all our
classrooms. The things Lesley is telling them we will understand and
be reinforcing. Knowledge is power and we want to empower our youth.
The more information they have, the better the choices they are going
to make for themselves. This is another important tool in the student
tool kit."

Thibault said students indeed do disclose information about drug
dealing and gang recruiting to their teachers.

"They do, they share, especially when they're scared," she said. "This
presentation will help draw that out more, and respond to it better
when it does happen."

Smith said the District Parent Advisory Council was also hosting the
gang presentation at one of their meetings, so more than classrooms
are getting the message. To discuss the presentation or possibly
having Smith come present the information for your group, call the
Community Policing office at 250-561-3366.