Vancouver police say they have made significant progress in the battle against gang violence in the southeast corner of the city, effectively reducing the number of shootings in the area to zero.
But the RCMP, who are responsible for policing several municipalities in the Lower Mainland, said yesterday they could not assert that the region had turned the corner on ending the deadly spate of gangland activities that have claimed as many as 31 lives so far this year.
"We can see some successes, including tremendous successes on the investigative side in Vancouver," Sergeant Shinder Kirk of the RCMP's gang task force said later in an interview.
"But there is always an undercurrent of violence, and the violence could break out at any time, in any place, for any reason," he said.
The recent dip in shootings and homicides in public places cannot be attributed solely to enforcement and police intervention, he said, noting that gang members may have resolved disputes that sparked the violence.
"The violence seems to go in cycles. We saw horrendous violence for a period of time, and now a tapering off," Sgt. Kirk said.
Deputy Chief Constable Doug LePard of the Vancouver Police Department told reporters at a news conference he would not say that the gang war is over. Police efforts are making a difference, but gang violence and gang crime "remain a plague on our city," he said.
Inspector Mike Porteous of the Vancouver Police Department was more effusive. He said at the news conference that many "gang guns" appear to have been silenced in Vancouver as a result of the efforts of a police initiative called Project Rebellion. The work of that team has led to more than 200 criminal charges.
Barjinder Sanghera, Gordon Taylor and Udham Sanghera have been charged and incarcerated, Insp. Porteous said. "With these violent gangsters behind bars, life became quieter on the streets, as the number of shootings fell dramatically," he said. "Shootings went from approximately 50 over the last three years to zero involving the Sanghera group."
Last week, police arrested two members of a main rival to the Sanghera group. Insp. Porteous said Amandeep Manj, 23, was charged with trafficking and possession of a semi-automatic pistol, trafficking of a semi-automatic rifle, assault causing bodily harm and assault with a weapon. He was arrested Aug. 6 leaving his family home . At the time, he was out on bail on a charge of armed robbery.
Weapons-related charges were also laid against Christopher Premjit Barr, 23, who was also arrested Aug. 6 at his family home.
The accused man was on bail for a serious domestic assault, Insp. Porteous said.
Police have not linked the two men to any specific incident of recent shooting.
However, Deputy Chief Constable LePard said Project Rebellion had focused on the most active "shooters" and pursued criminal charges that would take them off the street.
"So, in a nut shell, we've taken out the Sanghera group, we've made a big dent in the Manj group, we will continue to target these criminals and other criminals in the city," Insp. Porteous said. "I expect [we will announce ]in the future more successes."