Manitoba anti-gang social-media campaign for youths declared a success

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This article was published 13/02/2024 (605 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

A recent online campaign meant to keep Manitoba youths out of street gangs and help those who’ve already joined leave the life was a success, officials say.

The initiative, spearheaded by the Manitoba Association of Chiefs of Police organized crime committee and the province’s Justice Department, saw dozens of youths contact outreach workers from The Link, a youth social-services organization formerly known as Macdonald Youth Services.

The campaign, dubbed “Gang Life is No Life,” was launched last July with a series of 15-second ads on social media designed to look like scenes from video game series Grand Theft Auto.

The ads depicted young teenagers in animated backdrops of Winnipeg locations becoming entrenched into gang life through violence, drug and weapons sales and sex trafficking and ended with the number of a 24-7 text hotline to reach out to service workers, independent of law enforcement.

Winnipeg Police Service organized crime Insp. Elton Hall, speaking on behalf of the MACP-organized crime committee, said Tuesday the ads resulted in more than 150 youths being referred for additional help from The Link and other agencies to leave gangs or stay out of them over the course of the campaign.

The ads also racked up nearly 12 million impressions — views on social media — within Manitoba over two six-week phases.

“These results are significant,” said Hall, adding the traditional WPS gang-prevention strategy is successful as well.

“(But) the organized crime committee recognized that accessing technology and connecting with young people through their mobile devices could provide additional off-ramps.”

Kerri Irvin-Ross, The Link’s chief executive officer and a former NDP politician, said the organization’s participation in the campaign has helped young people who need assistance.

“It’s a sense of belonging, it’s poverty, it’s fear, it’s exploitation,” she said, offering possible reasons that youths join gangs.

“We all need to work together to address those issues, but until we resolve those issues, we have a responsibility to let the young people in our province know that there is a way out, that there are helpers that are here to support them.”

Hall said the organizations plan to make new ads and run campaigns this year and next, with additional funding from MACP and the WPS guns and gangs unit. The initial campaign was budgeted at $130,000, and Hall said he was not sure all of it was spent.

Manitoba Justice Minister Matt Wiebe said the province will provide $140,000 in annual funding for the campaign.

Hall said youth street gangs have evolved in recent years, as larger Canadian organized crime groups have increased the volume of illegal guns and drugs on Winnipeg’s streets, influencing street gangs and leading to worsening violence.

“You need a crime-prevention program when you’re dealing with organized crime and gangs, and you need avenues for young people to exit gangs,” he said.

“Crime prevention is a big part of it, it’s not just arresting your way out of the problem.”

erik.pindera@freepress.mb.ca