Pubdate: Thu, 26 Jun 2003 Source: Calgary Herald (CN AB) Copyright: 2003 Calgary Herald Contact: http://www.canada.com/calgary/calgaryherald/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/66 Author: Tom Barrett ALBERTA TO FORM SPECIAL GANG UNIT Alberta plans on doubling the $2.4 million it spends each year to combat organized crime and street gangs. The new money will be used to create a special province-wide police unit designed to counter the growing threat posed by sophisticated groups that increasingly resemble multinational criminal organizations, sources say. It is thought the initiative is the first of its kind in Canada. Planning was accelerated following a meeting last month with Solicitor General Heather Forsyth and police officials. Forsyth and police representatives will reveal further details, including a dollar figure, this morning at a Calgary news conference. The force will apparently complement organized crime and gang units. "Not only is the volume of organized crime on the rise, but the complexity and sophistication of the crimes are also increasing," Forsyth said Wednesday. Crime has fallen in Alberta in recent years, but organized crime, including bloody street shootings and gun battles between rival gangs settling scores and marking territory, has grown noticeably. Alberta police forces believe the gangs involved in public violence are mostly extensions of larger crime groups. They are worried the province's approximately 25 organized crime groups are expanding beyond drug trafficking to running most methamphetamine labs and marijuana grow operations. The gangs are also adding money laundering, tax evasion, murder for hire, extortion, jewelry, guns and immigrant smuggling, car, credit card and identity theft, illegal gambling, telephone and Internet fraud, and even stock market manipulation to their portfolios. Gang activity has been escalating in Calgary, with at least three gang-related drive-by shootings since December. The victim of the Southcentre mall shooting survived, but two young men, Vinh Le, 29, and Bill Ly, 19, were killed in separate gun attacks on Dec. 29 and Dec. 30, 2002. Calgary police Chief Jack Beaton says members of Calgary's street gangs are teens to men in their late 20s who often work their way up the organized crime ladder. As a result, Calgary police have created a 25-member task force to tackle street-gang activity, headed by 22-year police veteran Staff Sgt. Ken Marchant and including criminal analysts and Calgary Police Service members from specialty units such as the gang, homicide and drug units, as well as members of the Serious Habitual Offender Program. Organized crime is also spreading beyond Edmonton and Calgary to Red Deer, Fort McMurray, Grande Prairie, Lethbridge, Medicine Hat and smaller communities, they say. Many break-ins, bank robberies and car thefts are committed by drug users desperate to feed their habits. There is also a social impact with overdose deaths, drug-addicted babies and broken families, as well as increased insurance and security costs for businesses. The province spends $2.4 million annually to fund the Criminal Intelligence Service of Alberta. CISA, which was established in 1999, collects, analyses and distributes criminal intelligence to Alberta police forces and conducts threat assessment of organized crime. It is credited with significantly improving information sharing between police agencies and supporting numerous major joint operations and investigations by other forces. The new initiative was developed with input from Beaton, Edmonton police Chief Bob Wasylyshen, RCMP Assistant Commissioner Bill Sweeney, and Camrose Chief Marshall Chalmers, who is also president of the Alberta Association of Chiefs of Police. - --- MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom