Police can't tackle gangs alone
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Ottawa Police have been saying for months they can’t arrest their way out of the city’s gang situation.
The new approach is to combine the efforts of everyone who wants to get rid of gangs, and that’s one which starts at the grass roots.
“The Ottawa Gang Strategy, A Roadmap for Action 2013-16” starts with small groups, sharing information.
Police are already working a pilot project to target the siblings of known gang members and Ottawa Public Housing is working to encourage its tenants to report all suspicious activity.
OPH executive director Joanne Poirier knows people might be reluctant to speak up, for fear of reprisals by neighbourhood gangs. But, her staff go door-to-door handing out call sheets and remind residents that calls are dealt with discreetly and anonymously if needed.
Both she and Community and Protective Services committee chair Coun. Mark Taylor are open for a new meeting on the subject, after a shooting death on Ritchie St. Wednesday.
Even though crime stats show the area to be getting safer, they feel it’s just as important for residents to feel safe as it is for them to actually be safe.
The gang strategy, officially put into action this month, seeks to get people reporting criminal activity as always, but it also seeks to infiltrate it. Not so much in a covert way, but in a way that casts police officers as guides to a better life — not just to jail.
Through efforts like reaching out to siblings of known gang members, police hope to cut off the supply of kids as young as 12 — targeted by gangs as drug runners. Success, they believe, will come by getting youth involved in volunteering, clubs, sports or at jobs so they can get a sense of accomplishment and independence. They do this because they’ve discovered kids often get into gangs looking for a sense of belonging. The other big reason is they are simply forced into it. Their studies show kids who appear independent are less likely to be targeted for recruitment.
At the other end of the strategy is plans to help gang members get out of it, safely.
Often referred to as “exit strategies,” police are trying to find ways to encourage gang members to disassociate themselves from the criminal activity without being targeted by the gang as rats, snitches or other types of threats to the operation.
Twitter: @DougHempstead
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Street gangs in Ottawa
Ottawa Police get as much information as they can from gang informants and those busted by detectives.
Last year, police did a breakdown of 434 gang members to show the varying affiliations.
Of the 434, six different gang affiliations were found.
Crips — 224
Bloods — 102
Juggalos — 62
RuffRyder — 28
Boy Blue — 10
Bloods — 4
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