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Hell's
Angels | injusticebusters sermonette Gangs
of Saskatoon: the police
Gangs of Saskatoon
2003
CTV report pointed out:
- Riversdale is a socio-economic
ghetto
- Saskatoon has the second highest
crime rate in Canada
- quoted Sgt. Atkinson as telling
us this is just a taste of what is to come
- See also: Hell's
Angels | injusticebusters sermonette Gangs
of Saskatoon: the police
Both Winnipeg
and Saskatoon have Police Services who have been under scrutiny
for disclosure violations, abusive investigations and other irregularities.
Giving them more money will not solve any problems. Cleaning
up the police should not be costly. Firing Dueck would free up some
money right fast.
Gang-related crime likely
to increase in Saskatoon
Rod Nickel, The StarPhoenix,
March 31, 2003
As street gangs grow, Saskatonians
should brace for more sporadic violence, suggests the inspector
who heads Winnipeg's fight against gangs.
"If it mirrors Winnipeg,
what you're going to see is the drive-by shootings, the armed
robberies all done by gang members (and) vicious assaults of
gang members by opposing gangs," said Insp. Blair McCorrister,
who's in charge of Winnipeg's 13-officer organized-crime unit.
Saskatoon police say some of
the people involved in a shooting in the 200 block of Avenue
H South in Riversdale Tuesday have gang connections. But they
add it's unlikely the shooting, which sent four men to hospital,
was motivated by gang activity.
The area's city councillor,
Owen Fortosky, hopes the shooting will be a "wake-up call"
to councillors who don't support more police funding.
"Unfortunately, the incidents
are happening on a more regular basis."
He said Riversdale will continue
to demand foot patrols. But the best strategy against gangs,
he said, is addressing underlying social problems like slum housing
and lack of food.
"If people can survive,
they don't have to turn to these things."
Police scrapped foot patrols
in favour of bike patrols years ago, said Sgt. Jerry Boechler,
who oversees Saskatoon's community liaison officers.
"The police service looked
at where it can get the most bang for its buck in terms of manpower,"
he said.
Gang activity, while most common
on the west side, is too spread out for foot patrols to be effective,
he said. Four street gangs, Indian Posse Crazy Cree, Mixed Blood
and Native Syndicate, are dominant in the city.
Winnipeg Police Service, which
has been dealing with street gangs since the late 1970s, has
had some success beefing up police presence with foot patrols,
said McCorrister. It's not a fail-safe strategy, however, particularly
if police are trying to cover a large area, he said.
After Winnipeg police cracked
down on street gangs, the gangs turned to drug trafficking with
better-organized gangs like Hells Angels.
Riversdale has had its own
police detachment since January, located a few blocks from the
shooting scene. The Little Chief Community Station is open from
8 a.m. to 6 p.m. seven days a week.
"What kind of difference
is it making? I don't know," said Boechler. "It's a
perception thing -- if police are nearby, things are safer. But
that's not always the case."
The police commission is requesting
a $2.9-million budget increase from the city to keep up with
inflation and wage increases and to enable the department to
hire five more constables, among other staff.
Constant interaction with gang
members by police, Native elders and social agencies, as well
as gang education in schools is crucial, McCorrister said.
"Enforcement alone doesn't
work. You need to be able to reach out to those who want to leave
the gang.
Saskatoon has a four-officer
organized-crime unit. Community liaison officers educate the
public about gangs.
Education is a major part of
the force's approach, said Staff Sgt. Al Kopelchuk, who oversees
the organized-crime unit. He deferred detailed questions about
its gang strategy to the officers, who were unavailable for comment.
The police service has no plans
to increase resources to the organized-crime unit next year,
Kopelchuk said, although gang-related crime is growing in the
city.
Saskatoon owes some of its
street gangs to Winnipeg. Some are expanding into Saskatchewan
simply because members are too well-known to Winnipeg police.
Corrections Canada is also inadvertently aiding the spread of
gangs by sentencing members to serve time in penitentiaries away
from home, hoping to break up gangs, McCorrister said.
"All they're doing is
making ties elsewhere."
Police have announced no arrests
in connection with Tuesday's shooting and won't identify the
victims, said acting Insp. Keith Atkinson.
© Copyright 2003 The StarPhoenix (Saskatoon)
Police doubt gang link
in shooting: Dispute likely personal
Rod Nickel, The StarPhoenix,
March 27, 2003
The Riversdale shooting that
sent four men to hospital involved several people with street-gang
connections, but Saskatoon police said Wednesday they doubt it
was a gang-motivated incident.
That means the dispute, which
took place in the 200 block of Avenue H South Tuesday, was likely
personal, not a crime intended to benefit a gang, said acting
Insp. Keith Atkinson.
 .
Police aren't saying if the
victims, shooters or both have gang connections or with which
gangs they're affiliated. They have laid no charges.
One block resident, who watched
the shooting's immediate aftermath, suspects gangs are at the
heart of the matter.
"I'm positive it was gang-related,"
said the young father.
Around supper time he heard
a commotion and peeked down the block to house 231.
His neighbours were milling
around the house when he saw four young men, all wearing red,
sprinting out of the house. One of them held a bloody rag to
the side of his head.
"He must have been nicked,
but he was all right," said the man, who doesn't want to
be identified. "He went right by me. I said, 'Looks like
you could use some help.' He said, 'No,' and kept going."
One of Indian Posse's colours
is red, said Atkinson, adding that he's not aware of the house's
occupants wearing that colour.
A group of people had entered
the house, which is a rental property, uninvited Tuesday, prior
to the shooting. Three men in their 20s were checked into hospital
the evening of the shooting. One is listed in serious condition,
while the others are described as stable. A fourth man was treated
and released.
Police have interviewed two
of the four and are waiting for the other two to recover.
"It's progressing well,"
Atkinson said of the police investigation. "The investigation
is not hitting any dead ends."
Police said the victims were
visiting at the house at the time of the shooting. Nothing appears
to have been stolen.
"This wasn't a random
act of violence on strangers," Atkinson said. "These
people seem to have some connections with each other."
A small-calibre gun of some
type is believed to have been used in the shooting. Police seized
two knives from the scene but have not confirmed they were used
in the dispute.
Three or four school-age children
live in the house. At least one is believed to have been home
at the time of the shooting.
"They looked fine,"
said Princess Alexandra School principal Yves Bousquet, who talked
to the kids the next day. "My guess is they're suffering
from a bit of shock."
Staff at the school, which
is located on the same block as the shooting scene, formed a
plan the same night to address the incident with students. Counsellors
and social workers briefed staff before the school day began
and later met with students in groups or individually.
"We want to stress to
them that they are safe here," Bousquet said. "Kids
are not seeing this as a personal thing. Not as 'something that's
going to happen to me next.' "
No one was answering the door
Wednesday at the Avenue H residence. A young man who said he
lives in the house arrived home Wednesday afternoon, saying he
was looking for his mother and sister.
"None of my family was
hurt," he said, declining to give his name.
"That's going to get me
in trouble with the same people."
Claudette Bear, who also lives
on the 200 block, described the residents of the Avenue H home
as a "nice" young couple.
"I'm just in shock right
now. I don't know what to think . . . I'm not scared for us.
I'm more worried about other gang members, whether there will
be more outbursts."
The best way to discourage
crime in the area is for police to patrol on foot, said resident
El Hrytsak.
"Everyone cleans up their
act when police are around."
Bousquet said he's concerned
the shooting will give the neighbourhood a bad reputation.
"There's an image of what
Riversdale is -- and then there's the real Riversdale . . . This
is not the way the neighbourhood is."
© Copyright 2003 The StarPhoenix (Saskatoon)
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Truth can never be
told so as to be understood, and not be believ'd. William Blake, The Proverbs of Hell
