EDMONTON POLICE SERVICE TACKLES CITY'S GANGS HEAD ON

If you think gangs roaming the streets of Edmonton are reminiscent of
Marlon Brando and his cohorts from the 1953 flick The Wild One, think
again.

Staff Sgt. Brad Doucette of the Edmonton Police Service (EPS) drug and
gang unit says the stereotype of hordes of young men spewing attitude,
dressed in leather, intent on defending their turf, is a media myth.

"We have groups of people who deal drugs and that's where a huge
amount of the violence comes from. And really, calling them gangs
almost glamorizes it. For the most part, we have a bunch of drug
dealers in town here," says Doucette.

Most of the gangs aren't bound by a common ethnicity, like in the days
of yore, but have loose-knit affiliations that are constantly
changing. It's that lack of loyalty among members that often is
responsible for a great deal of violence, says Doucette.

Many Edmonton gang members are "dial-a-dopers" who have moved dealing
cocaine, but also methamphetamine and marijuana, out of the basement
and onto the streets. Many drive around armed with their cellphones
and cocaine, ready to deliver to their clients when called.

"Last year we saw a trend emerge when they would hijack a phone from
another group because if you steal my phone, you get my customer base,
too -- the customer doesn't care who he buys from, he just (calls) his
regular number," says Doucette.

Stealing clients from the profitable cocaine trade is dangerous, which
is why there is so much violence by gangs against their
counterparts.

"Our main concern is people get caught in the crossfire between the
two groups. When you are in these groups, reputation is everything.
The more violent and anti-social you can be seen as, the bigger
reputation you have," he says.

Doucette says there's little allegiance among the members too. When
one member leaves to join another allegiance, that precipitates a lot
of violence.

"A lot of the time what they are fighting over is silly things. Again,
it's not like this gang is against that gang. A lot of times with the
violence, it's the guy that's affiliated with one group has a beef
with a guy that has an affiliation with another group. It's not like
the gang has put a hit out on him -- it's just one guy in the group is
mad and he goes out and does something," he says.

It's when the members go after each other that creates the biggest
risk for the general public.

"This is what causes us huge concern is Joe Normal person is out for a
drink at a night club and spills a drink or sits in the wrong chair or
whatever the case may be, with one of these guys. The gangster-type
person will completely and totally over-react and he (Joe Normal)
thinks he's just going to get into a fist fight and he gets knifed or
shot or whatever the case may be. They don't realize who they are
dealing with," says Doucette.

To combat the problem, the EPS formed the Gang Activity Suppression
(GAS) unit in 1999 which consisted of five officers.

That unit has since expanded to 15 officers and is now called the drug
and gang unit. Doucette says profiles of about 600 known gang members
are in the EPS data base and the team's goal for this year is to
create a more accurate and scientific list.

Typically gang members range in age from 16 to 28. Doucette estimates
there are about 20 gangs currently operating in Edmonton.

One of the unit's goals last year was to reduce the number of
on-street gang members by 10 per cent. Doucette says EPS actually
reduced the numbers by 18 per cent using a variety methods including
zero tolerance for any provincial statute or criminal code
infractions.

"We also have an education component and do presentations to schools,
parents of at-risk youth, community league type things to try to get
to them before they get into that lifestyle. I think it shows our
tactics are effective. Out of that number we got off the street,
unfortunately some of numbers are because of the fact some of them
have been killed," he says.

Of six homicides in Edmonton so far this year, two have been
gang-related.

In 2004 there were 28 homicides and 11 were gang-related.

Doucette says one of the unit's goals for this year is to dispel myths
about gangs in Edmonton.

"The only true sort of gangs that would follow what people normally
think of as a gang, would be a couple of the Aboriginal gangs which
are more prevalent in the prisons," he says, adding they represent
only 10 per cent of the problem.

In fact, he doesn't even like the term "gang" and won't provide the
names of the affiliations because that serves to glamorize them.

It's not just EPS that's helping address the problem in Edmonton as a
gang task force has been formed. "We partner with several other
different agencies including the RCMP and Corrections Canada, the
parole officers etc. so that we have a very good idea as to who's
coming out of jail, when they are coming out and what the allegiances
are. We're doing very much a combined effort," says Doucette.

EPS is also striving for a combined effort from the community and its
414-GANG (4264) hotline number is answered 24 hours a day, seven days
a week. Doucette says it's an information and tip line that anyone can
access if they need information or want to report a suspected gang
member.

NEXT WEEK: The Examiner talks to a group of agencies trying to come up
with a community solution to combat Edmonton's gang situation.