Pubdate: Sat, 26 Jul 2014 Source: Vancouver Sun (CN BC) Copyright: 2014 Postmedia Network Inc. Contact: http://www.canada.com/vancouversun/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/477 Author: Kim Bolan Page: A3 NEW BOOKLET DESCRIBES HOW GANGS WORK Goal is to help parents and teens recognize recruitment techniques and drug operations B.C. anti-gang police and educators have prepared a booklet to help parents understand how gangs work so they can better protect their children. Called Understanding Youth and Gangs, the publication explains how teens are most vulnerable to being recruited by gangs when they have a driver's licence and a need for cash. It says the dial-a-dope delivery system for illicit drugs is usually the point of entry for some youth, who get sucked in by the promise of earning big money. The teens are recruited to carry one of the phones used to take orders for drugs, then to deliver the products to customers - using their own vehicles. "Since the older gangsters do not want to be caught by police while delivering drugs, they target teenage youth, most of whom do not have any history of criminal involvement. If caught by the police, the amount of drugs in their possession is generally minimal and therefore any criminal conviction may result in a more lenient sentence and possibly no jail time," the booklet says. "Like typical teenagers, the youth are open to adventure and are willing to try out new and dangerous ways of living. The lure of making quick money on the side can be very tempting for this age group. Also, the risk may not seem huge given that all they need to do is pick up a small package and deliver it to a designated location." The booklet was prepared jointly by the Combined Forces Special Enforcement Unit of B.C. and the Kwantlen Polytechnic University's AT-CURA Project, which is researching anti-gang strategies. CFSEU's Sgt. Lindsey Houghton said the booklet "will hopefully play a significant role in educating people about gangs, how to recognize warning signs that a youth may be getting involved in gangs, and provide information on how to prevent young people from joining gangs." Kwantlen professor Gira Bhatt noted that "prevention is the key to combating gang crime in communities around the province." Houghton said CFSEU will distribute the booklet around B.C. Future editions are planned in Punjabi, Chinese, Vietnamese, Korean and Arabic. The booklet was released to mark the opening of Kwantlen's gang prevention conference in Surrey this week. It can be downloaded here: www.endganglife.ca - ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- [sidebar] Dial-a-dope drug lines 1) Street level dial-a-doper: Most teens are recruited into gangs to work at this level, taking orders over a cellphone for drugs like marijuana, crack cocaine and heroin, then delivering small packaged quantities they have picked up from a reload house. 2) Reload house: Workers at reload houses supply the drugs to the dial-a-dopers. A drug line run by a reloader can bring in as much as $1,500 per day. Reloaders often supply drugs from a safe house, rented in the name of a friend or relative. 3) Operations: The gang leader or leaders will have arranged a supply line for their dial-a-dope drug operation. They received the larger quantities of drugs to distribute to their reload houses. 4) Gang Leadership: People who are at the top of the gangs are usually older. Their main job is to coordinate the transportation of drugs and weapons, the distribution of money, and to contract people to maintain the import, export, buying, and selling of drugs. - --- MAP posted-by: Matt