BIG CITY GANGS TARGET SMALL COMMUNITIES

Police Take Aim At Stopping Trend

Len Untereiner is not surprised to see that police are
finding a rising trend of gangs spreading crime to
small communities around Edmonton.

With a gang related past himself, Untereiner makes it his mission to
warn communities about the trend.

"The gang thing is a business thing. If the environment is too
pressured they will spread out," said Untereiner, CEO of Spirit Keeper
Youth Society, an Edmonton-based charitable organization that has
ex-gang members warning young people about the dangerous lifestyle
during presentations.

Untereiner brought speakers to Fort Saskatchewan last year for a
workshop with the public.

And last week, when RCMP said crime trends indicate there are links to
street level gangs throughout the capital region, Untereiner couldn't
help but feel his message isn't loud enough.

"There's a lot of people in the community who are not aware," said
Untereiner. "People need to know about this and get their heads out of
the sand."

"The workshops are not the kind of thing people want to pay for, until
their kids are sucking scabs for a crystal methamphetamine addiction,"
he said.

RCMP identified ties to Edmonton based street gangs after wrapping up
a seven-month investigation in Leduc. The investigation led to 35
people facing 88 charges, mostly drug related.

"There's no community in and around the greater Edmonton area that are
not affected by the observations we've made at this time," said Cpl.
Wayne Oakes, a spokesperson with RCMP. "We have a belief that (street
gangs) are looking at it as lands of opportunity."

RCMP Provincial District Commander, Superintendent Brian McLeod is
committed to addressing the issue by increasing the presence of
uniformed police officers, reducing duplication and redundancies, and
by targeting crime through intelligence led policing.

Education is a way communities can target the issue said
Oakes.

"If you're very blase about the issues then why wouldn't your children
be?" said Oakes.

The Boys and Girls Club formed a drug awareness steering committee in
response to a youth drug survey they distributed in schools last year.

"We wanted a proactive approach," said Wendy Serink, executive
director of the club, and chairperson of the steering committee.

The committee is working on compiling a directory to link parents with
resources for specific information relating to drugs.

"We are trying to eliminate people from having to make 10 phone calls
to find something specific," said Serink.