Pubdate: Thu, 23 Jul 2015
Source: Calgary Herald (CN AB)
Copyright: 2015 Postmedia Network
Contact:  http://www.calgaryherald.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/66
Author: Jason van Rassel
Page: A5

POLICE TRY TO QUELL GUN VIOLENCE WITH DIALOGUE

Police Are Trying the Power of Persuasion to End the Spate of 
Drug-Related Shootings on City Streets..

While dialogue isn't a replacement for arresting gangsters and drug 
dealers, the tactic has succeeded before in quelling violent 
conflicts between criminal groups - notably a gang feud that ended in 
a police- brokered truce in 1992.

Police said the latest spate of violence involves as many as 100 
loosely affiliated young men who have been responsible for dozens of 
shootings during the first six months of 2015, many of which are 
drug- related and many in the city's northeast quadrant.

Investigators revealed this week they're considering ways of 
convincing the combatants in the most recent violence to come to a 
truce, while stressing those efforts won't take precedence over 
prosecuting them for the drug dealing and criminal activities that 
are sparking the gunfire.

"We're not giving anyone a free pass, by any means," said Sgt. Jason 
Walker of the guns and gangs unit.

The tactic is premised on convincing criminals that shooting at each 
other in public and endangering bystanders will bring even more 
police pressure to bear on their illegal rackets. It may sound 
incongruous for police to speak so candidly to gangsters about their 
criminal activity, but Walker said it has a pragmatic purpose: hoping 
the profit motive that drives organized crime can persuade the sides 
to put aside whatever is behind the violence.

"We're always looking to do what we can to maximize public safety," 
Walker said.

"One of our messages to these guys is that if you deal drugs, you 
will find your way onto our radar screen. But if you want to get on 
our dance card even more quickly, do something that threatens public safety."

That appeal to self-interest hasn't always worked: a decade long war 
between the FOB gang and a breakaway faction known as the FOB Killers 
( FK) was sparked by personal animosity between former criminal 
associates that grew into deep-seated hatred as the two groups became 
locked in a cycle of deadly revenge attacks.

The FOB-FK war was responsible for at least 25 homicides between 2002 
and 2009 and only came to an end after lengthy and costly police 
investigations succeeded in locking up many of the key players 
responsible for the bloodshed. A key turning point came in 2009, when 
three FOB figures entered the Bolsa Restaurant on New Year's Day and 
killed Keni Su'a, a bystander who fled the establishment after the 
gunmen killed FK member Sanjeev Mann and drug dealer Aaron Bendle.

Walker said investigators have had many opportunities to talk to gang 
members involved in the FOB- FK conflict, who say they now realize 
the feud and Su'a's murder played a role in their undoing by 
galvanizing the public and sparking an unprecedented mobilization of 
police resources against them.

"We know first-hand, from talking to these people, that they wish 
they had never gone down that path," said Walker.

An incident similar to the Bolsa killings in the 1990s helped police 
bring the Devil Boys gang and a rival group to the table to negotiate 
a truce. The turning point came in July 1992, when gangsters who shot 
an innocent man mistaken for a Devil Boys member.

Peter Copple, a former gang investigator who retired at the rank of 
deputy chief in 2001, said the shooting prompted people in the 
community to begin co-operating with police. When sources told 
investigators the two sides were arming themselves and recruiting 
reinforcements from out of town, police offered a safe place for them 
to negotiate.

After three meetings - each surrounded by a heavy police presence - 
the two sides agreed to cease the violence.

"It's not a common tactic, and it's not that easy," said Copple, who 
is now a consultant specializing in justice issues.

Although police haven't taken such elaborate steps to deal with the 
current violence, Walker said they'd consider it.

"We're not beyond going that route if we deem it necessary," he said.
- ---
MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom