CRACKING DOWN ON GUNS AND GANGS

Provincial funding targeted at gangs, guns, and grow ops is welcomed
news for Waterloo Regional Police.

"It's a significant contribution...and it allows us to network with
other services," said media relations and executive officer Bryan
Larkin, of the Waterloo Regional Police Service (WRPS).

Wednesday's annoucement by Ontario's Premier Dalton McGuinty will
assist local police services to target gangs, guns, marijuana grow
operations and other criminal activities.

The McGuinty government is investing $6.3 million to expand an
anti-guns and gangs and anti-violence intervention program to several
communities outside of Toronto, including Waterloo Region.

"Our community is not free of gangs," Larkin said, adding that
regional investigations sometimes lead the service to other
municipalities.

But with the government funding, he said the WRPS will benefit by
networking with other services in places like Toronto, where gangs,
guns and other organized crime levels are higher.

"It's important for us to stay ahead of the curb," he
added.

The provincial funding announcement also includes: a crystal
methamphetamine elimination project to target criminal organizations
that produce it; increasing the capacity of the office of the fire
marshal to investigate fires and explosions from meth labs and
marijuana operations; creating a provincial advisory group on
marijuana grow operations; and enhancing the capacity of the Ontario
Provincial Police, working with municipal police services, to
identify, locate, seize and forfeit the illegal gains from criminal
organizations.

The initiatives build on the government's $51-million Guns and Gangs
Strategy that was announced last year.

In a statement, Premier Dalton McGuinty said, "Tackling gun crimes is
a complex challenge - and criminal gangs are always adapting and
evolving - so we're giving our police services the resources they need."