Ads hope to keep kids out of gangs

The ads on TV, buses and the Internet started airing after Monday's throne speech and will cost taxpayers about $250,000, Swan said Tuesday.

But Swan argues it's money well-spent when considering it's just one piece of the province's evolving anti-gang strategy.

"This is not a silver bullet, but we think it's going to open, at least in some young people, up to getting more information," Swan said.

The second part of the anti-gang plan will outlaw bulletproof cars driven by gangsters. Several of these vehicles have been yanked off the street in Vancouver where police have waged an ongoing battle against well-armed and violent drug gangs, but to date they have not surfaced elsewhere in Canada.

Swan said new legislation, when introduced, will spell out the penalties for driving an armoured gang car in Manitoba.

"We will make sure the bill is drafted in the strongest possible way that's not going to be seen as unconstitutional," he said.

Swan added the province is also looking at restricting the sale of bulletproof vests in Manitoba, something British Columbia is doing.

Gang members in Winnipeg have been known to wear body armour: perhaps the best-known case is the 2005 shooting in which a then-Hells Angels member was shot in the leg by a man wearing a bulletproof vest. Police also periodically seize body armour from gang members or drug dealers.

Progressive Conservative justice critic Kelvin Goertzen said the NDP's new ads and its new anti-gang battle plan are similar to its Project Gang Proof plan released a decade ago, which he added obviously had little success as the gang problem has only ballooned.

Goertzen said rather than an ad campaign, more resources should be given to police to arrest known gang members on substantive charges, removing the influence they have over younger kids.

"Get the recruiters off the street," he said. "Only then will the ad campaign have more resonance."

Swan also said the province will clamp down on businesses that serve as fronts for gangs. Measures could include making it harder for a known gang member to register a business.

"We want to give more tools to try and knock the feet out from under criminal organizations to prevent the income they're using to do other things," he said.

Gang members in Winnipeg have been known to own and operate businesses ranging from restaurants to portable sign companies, towing companies and tattoo parlours.

A third initiative may prove to be the most difficult. The province wants to create a statutory list of criminal organizations, to remove the need for prosecutors to repeatedly prove to judges that a particular gang is a criminal organization.

"We will do what we can within our authority," Swan said. "We can only control those proceedings under provincial laws. We want the federal government to do the same thing with respect to the Criminal Code, which will give us a broader reach."

Ottawa already has a list of known terrorist organizations and Manitoba's plan would treat criminal organizations the same way.

For example, right now in Canada there is no unanimity in the courts that the Hells Angels is a criminal organization.

The three measures are part of the overall anti-gang plan unveiled in September.

It also involves city police focusing more intensely on the top 50 known gang and violent criminals in Winnipeg, as well as a gang-awareness education program for parents.

Called Project Restore, police are also building up a database of gangsters to allow law enforcement across the province, and at some point across Canada, to track offenders more closely as they move from city to city.

bruce.owen@freepress.mb.ca

An armoured gang vehicle

It's a vehicle, typically a SUV, that's been modified with three-inch-thick, bullet-resistant windows and ballistic armour. They can also have gun ports and an exterior surveillance camera system.

Police in Vancouver have seized a handful of these vehicles over the past two years in connection to a number of fatal gang shootings.

The presence of these vehicles prompted B.C. Premier Gordon Campbell's government to announce last February the province will ban the registration and insurance of modified armoured vehicles. New powers under that province's Motor Vehicle Act will allow the confiscation of vehicles carrying illegal weapons.

In October, the B.C. government also introduced legislation restricting the sale of body armour. The legislation is the first of its kind in Canada. Both the United States and Australia have criminal and regulatory measures to restrict body armour ownership.

In June, the Alberta government passed legislation to ban armoured vehicles. Police now have the authority to seize such vehicles and require them to undergo an inspection. The new law is an amendment to the Traffic Safety Act. Vehicles that don't pass the inspection can be removed from the road and their drivers could face a penalty of $2,000 and six months in jail.

Republished from the Winnipeg Free Press print edition December 2, 2009 A4