NDP PLEDGES MORE POLICE, PROSECUTORS TO TACKLE CRIME

MORE police officers, more prosecutors and intense pressure on Ottawa
to crack down on car thieves.

That is what a re-elected NDP government will do, Premier Gary Doer
said Wednesday, pledging a $12.25-million anti-crime spending spree
for 100 new police officers and 20 new prosecutors.

There will also be two new investigative teams for the Safer
Communities program, which has shut more than 200 gang houses, drug
dens and prostitution houses since 2002. And Doer committed to
long-term funding for the recent pilot project introduced to monitor
car thieves with GPS (global positioning system) devices.

Fifty of the new officers will be located in Winnipeg, said Doer, and
seven of the new prosecutors will be hired right into the specialized
gang prosecutions unit.

Doer said the police officers will be hired over the next four years,
but said he anticipates having all the new prosecutors in place long
before that, noting the workloads for the Crown attorneys are far too high.

"I think the matter is urgent," said Doer.

He also said he is adamant the federal government needs to strengthen
the Youth Criminal Justice Act so there are greater punishments for
kids who steal cars.

"We saw an increase in car thefts after the law was brought in,
although it has been a prevailing problem in our community," said Doer.

Doer said federal Justice Minister Rob Nicholson has assured the
Manitoba government car theft will be dealt with more seriously by
Ottawa, but Doer said if it doesn't happen, Manitoba will put a
full-court press on the federal government until it does.

Doer said his government will form a "community coalition" to lobby
Ottawa, similar to the coalitions that successfully got Ottawa to
locate the head offices of the Public Health Agency of Canada in
Winnipeg, and help with the Canadian Museum for Human Rights.

"We will use a broader coalition to escalate our efforts to get the
law changed," said Doer. "Our coalition will not be... gentle with
anybody in Ottawa that doesn't side with us on changing the laws."

Maggie Friesen, president of the Spence Neighbourhood Association,
joined Doer for his campaign announcement and said she welcomes an
increased police presence on Winnipeg's streets.

"If you don't see police on the streets, people think they can get
away with things," said Friesen.

The Tories have worked overtime in recent months to attack the Doer
government's record on car theft, saying despite promises to deal
with the issue, car theft in Winnipeg is a soaring problem.

Several high-profile car thefts in Winnipeg this past winter raised
the level of public alarm on the problem as well, including the case
of young car thieves who intentionally ran into a jogger on
Wellington Crescent.

One of the teens charged in that incident had been arrested and
released on bail after stealing a car just days earlier.

In his days of working at a juvenile detention centre, Doer said
Wednesday, the laws were strong enough that kids who stole cars and
committed other serious crimes had consequences for their behaviour.

"Under the old Juvenile Delinquents Act, we didn't release them,"
said Doer. "We have to reinstate the balance of safety."