Pubdate: Tue, 16 Sep 2014
Source: Globe and Mail (Canada)
Copyright: 2014 The Globe and Mail Company
Contact:  http://www.theglobeandmail.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/168
Author: Allan Maki
Page: A1

YOUNG GANG MEMBERS: THEIR NUMBERS ARE INCREASING, BUT WHY?

He has walked alone through some of the most unsafe neighbourhoods in 
Calgary in hopes he'd be stopped by gang bangers wanting to know what 
he was doing on their turf.

That's when the unassuming Hieu Ngo would go to work. He would tell 
them his story, how he went from being a Vietnamese refugee tempted 
by street life to a University of Calgary associate professor whose 
research on gangs has produced a pivotal study entitled The 
Unravelling of Identities and Belonging: Criminal Gang Involvement of 
Youth from Immigrant Families.

It's a unique report driven by Prof. Ngo's life experiences. He 
conducted interviews with more than 30 gangsters or former gangsters; 
some of whom were born abroad, others who were first-generation 
Canadians. Prof. Ngo chose this demographic as his subject matter 
because their numbers are increasing nationally and because not 
enough research has been done on what pulls these youth into gangs.

"It's about the unravelling of who they are," Prof. Ngo said. "In 
extreme cases, young people I talked to had people chasing them with 
a baseball bat. And for a 12-year-old who just came from a refugee 
camp, had traumatic experiences in Burundi where people were being 
killed, then comes to Canada thinking we have a safe place and he 
gets chased by other teenagers because he's a black kid? That takes 
away their sense of identity and a chance to be a Canadian."

The youth in that story ended up joining a gang for safety. Prof. 
Ngo's approach is based on preventative action. He wants immigrant 
youth to stay clear of gangs and to choose other options. He arrived 
in Calgary at the age of 18 after being sponsored by a local church. 
He attended high school, learned to skate and cleaned downtown office 
buildings to make money. It not only helped him assimilate to 
Canadian culture, it kept him off the streets where his vulnerability 
and stature - he's five-foot-six, 125 pounds - would have attracted 
gang recruiters.

With that in mind, Prof. Ngo's study of immigrant youth outlined "the 
pathways towards criminal gang involvement" and what could be done to 
"support high-risk and gang-involved youth." Thirty-two 
representatives from social service, education, health, justice and 
Citizen Immigration Canada took part in the process. The federal 
government was impressed enough by the information to ask Prof. Ngo 
to expand his research so it can be used in other cities. The request 
came with a $5.3-million grant to cover a five-year investigation.

Alberta, with its diverse population and booming economy, has had its 
share of gang violence. Statistics from the Canadian Centre for 
Justice show that in 1999, Quebec had the most gang-related homicides 
in the country with 30; Alberta had four. In 2000, Quebec again 
topped the list with 38 deaths, while Alberta had five. But by 2008, 
Alberta was No. 1 with 35 deaths. (That number has since come down.)

Calgary was the battleground for the intense and bloody feud between 
FOB (originally known as Fresh Off the Boat, now stands for Forever 
Our Brothers) and FK (FOB Killers). The two sides, which both had 
Asian and Caucasian members, were part of the same gang until 2002 
when the FK faction broke off and began fighting for control of the drug scene.

Police have estimated that in the past 12 years at least 25 people 
have been killed in gang skirmishes. To understand what they were up 
against, law officials decided not to prosecute FOB member Hans 
Eastgaard for three murders and two attempted murders in exchange for 
information on how gangs operated and who was leading them. Armed 
with that knowledge, police arrested FOB boss Nick Chan and stepped 
up their anti-gang measures.

"You're trying to put best practices in place," said Calgary 
Constable Sean Lynn, who pointed to the various programs police have 
established, from the Guns and Gangs unit to call-in emergency phone 
lines to GRIP - Gang-Related Intervention and Prevention.

"Some of those kids are struggling with poverty," Constable Lynn 
added. "They come from families with a single parent or both 
[parents] are hard-working. So these young men are scooped up by 
their peers. There will never be a complete stop to it. But if we 
lessen the effects then we're doing something."

Some critics say whatever police are doing isn't enough. The national 
crime rate continues to fall; Statistics Canada reported in July that 
the Crime Severity Index dropped by 9 per cent in 2013, making it the 
tenth year in a row that crime numbers have decreased. (The index 
combines the number of crimes and their severity as a rating tool.) 
Gang-related violence, however, is still on the rise.

"The serious gang problem exists because of the drug laws," said Ehor 
Boyanowsky, a criminology professor at Simon Fraser University. He 
believes the decriminalization of marijuana would take a bite out of 
the gangs' primary business, drug trafficking.

"The smart kids have taken advantage of the opportunity. Most of them 
have turned to the drug trade," Prof. Boyanowsky said. "They know 
there are risks, but the rewards for the undereducated, 
underprivileged and just plain lazy are too tempting. ... Gang 
members call it The Life - it's cars, guns and girls."

Prof. Ngo's interviews with current and former gang members revealed 
some wretched upbringings. One told how his older sister was attacked 
by their dad, who stuck a live wire into his daughter's eye to 
electrocute her. The father followed that by beating his wife, 
breaking her nose and cheekbone. The five-year-old future gangster, 
who had watched his dad's carnage, responded the next day by killing a kitten.

Then there was the story of a teenager who was not in a gang at that 
time, but was a high-risk to join one. Prof. Ngo tried to teach him 
the value of hard work. One day it sunk in and he phoned Prof. Ngo to 
say how much he appreciated all his work. Weeks later in Vancouver, 
the 17-year-old was shot and killed while sitting in a parked car.

"He had said to me, 'The program is over and I don't want it to be 
over.' And I said, 'It doesn't have to be over officially,'" Prof. 
Ngo recalled. "I still think about him."

The Ngo study lists a series of recommendations on how best to 
prevent kids from joining a gang. It's a multipronged pitch that 
includes families, schools and communities and asks each to provide 
positive social programs, opportunities and role models for support. 
There are similar guidelines for those who leave gangs and return to 
normal life. Exiting can put a former gang member and his family in harm's way.

Criminology professor Boyanowsky has studied gangs and their tactics 
and isn't sure the Ngo report will be effective.

"The leaders don't want to get out; the majority don't want to 
leave," Prof. Boyanowsky said. "Where else can they make $200 an hour?"

Undaunted, Prof. Ngo is preparing for his expanded look at immigrant 
youth across the country. He understands he can't save them all, but 
one, two or however many would be enough to keep him going back to 
those rough-edged neighbourhoods to tell his story, to offer hope.
- ---
MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom