NO MAGIC BULLET FOR GANG WARS

The violence is astonishing, but at the end of the day good education
and parenting may be our best weapon

By Barbara Yaffe, Vancouver Sun

As I walked my dog the other evening along West 41st Avenue, for the
first time the term "stray bullet" came to mind.

I'm sure I'm not alone. Gun violence in and around Vancouver this
month has penetrated the community's consciousness.

In late 2007, a similar surge in gun violence involving gangs
occurred in the region. It seems B.C. hasn't made significant headway
in its crusade against guns, drugs and violence.

In fact, the province now plays host to 129 organized-crime groups,
mostly in the Metro Vancouver area.

"It's difficult to catch the gangsters," Vancouver Police Chief Jim
Chu was quoted back in 2007.

"All of them have been in court before so they are quite experienced.
They can also afford good legal counsel. They have a lot of
experience in evading charges and also evading conviction."

And that's if you ever catch them.

If a cleanup were easy, politicians, prosecutors and police would
have made headway in restoring civility to our streets. Proof they
haven't has come this month, with 10 gang-related shootings so far.
And five dead.

In the wake of all the gunfire, provincial politicians have been
using adjectives like "outrageous and unacceptable." They're
promising a new crackdown on illegal guns and more police,
prosecutors, jail space and tougher bail provisions.

Federally, Opposition Liberals are proposing a special anti-gang
strategy featuring a ban on military-style assault weapons, measures
to track guns crossing the border and a 400-strong national task
force on guns and gangs.

Mayor Gregor Robertson maintains his city is under-policed and wants
another 475 officers to bring Vancouver on a per-capita par with Toronto.

There have been fresh calls for regional policing and wiretapping
capability for BlackBerry and Internet exchanges.

It's hard to know if these things will make a difference.
Considerable measures already have been taken.

In 2007, RCMP established a B.C. Integrated Gang Task Force,
centralizing expertise of the RCMP and municipal police forces in
Vancouver, Abbotsford, Delta, New Westminster, Port Moody and West Vancouver.

The Harper government has legislated a series of get-tough measures
since coming to power in 2006: Mandatory minimum sentencing for gun
offences and a requirement that those charged with serious crimes
prove they warrant bail.

The same year, the government announced funding for 1,000 more RCMP
police officers.

Federal Public Safety Minister Peter Van Loan, in Vancouver this
week, said his party will reintroduce a bill requiring mandatory
prison sentences for drug crimes.

While here, the minister noted Vancouver's new status as Canada's gang capital.

It has the largest number of gangs and "the largest number of very
sophisticated organized-crime groups, those that are the most
proficient at what they do, the most violent at what they do."

The violence has been astonishing. Hits in cars. Hits in homes. Hits
in broad daylight. A hit with a four-year-old in a vehicle's back seat.

Another difficulty for police -- not much squealing goes on; it's
tough getting tips that lead to convictions. Those in the know fear
for their own safety.

No matter what politicians, police and courts do to counter the
violence, there's no prospect of winning this war, only mitigating
its outrageous impact on the community.

Because at the root of the mayhem is the drug trade. And while the
state can outlaw a substance, it cannot eliminate its use.
Prohibition proved that nearly a century ago.

As longs as drugs are illegal, there will be underground activity of
the sort that spawns drug gangsters.

Van Loan said legalization, even of marijuana, is out of the
question. He pointed to the fact 80 per cent of those in prison are
drug abusers. Some no doubt are also abusers of alcohol, a legal and
heavily taxed substance.

A more substantial reason for not legalizing is that the U.S. would
never tolerate it; crossing borders would become more onerous than at present.

There is no magic bullet. More enforcement and stiffer punishment may
help. But, at the end of the day, the best bulwark against those
who'd live by the gun for the sake of drug profit is good parenting
and good education.