FIGHTING GANGS WILL TAKE MORE THAN BETTER POLICING, SAYS CHEAM CHIEF

First Nations are taking the fight against gangs and drugs to their
homes and streets on native reserves.

But it's going to take more than better policing to stop gangs preying
on the poverty and low self-esteem of aboriginal youth to lure them
into the criminal lifestyle.

"It's not just the gangs we have to worry about, it's the system,"
Cheam Chief Sid Douglas said after a two-day conference on gangs and
drugs.

It's a system where band councils are powerless to get at the root
causes of drug use - the despair caused by grinding poverty, the lack
of jobs and the impact of decisions made by outside agencies on
aboriginal people.

Douglas used child apprehension decisions by the child and family
development ministry - contrary to band advice - as one example.

"Their decisions have created negative decisions from young parents,"
he said. "We've seen it firsthand where a child has been apprehended
and the parents just say 'to hell with it' and go the other direction."

The other direction meaning drugs, which criminal elements then use to
gain access to the reserves where police have been unwelcome.

There is a new trust of the police developing on reserves, Douglas
agreed, but the justice system isn't making it any easier to turn in a
relative or a fellow member of the close-knit reserves - especially
when they will likely be soon released from custody.

"They go to jail and they don't even have time to reflect on what
they're doing to people - and their back on the street," Douglas said.

Band councils have even passed resolutions banning a member from the
reserve, but courts have ruled they have no force of law, he said.

"We're a governing body," the Chief said about the Cheam council. "But
(the courts) seem to lack the ability to recognize our decisions."

Chilliwack Mayor Sharon Gaetz said the problem of gangs and drugs
"crosses all racial and ethnic boundaries."

"It's root causes are the same," she said, adding "it's going to take
everyone coming together to tackle the problem, not just one
community."