SURREY, B.C. — A task force aimed at preventing gang violence in Surrey, B.C., is recommending more police enforcement, an expanded gang exiting program and the launch of an initiative that would allow nightclubs and other businesses to ban alleged gangsters.
It's also calling for the expansion of early intervention programs to deter children from entering the gang lifestyle, the development of strategies to help at-risk children and their families as well as stronger neighbourhood-based and culturally appropriate programs.
Mayor Linda Hepner, who launched the task force last October, says funding from the provincial and federal governments is essential.
Today I released the final report, with recommendations, from the Mayor’s Task Force on Gang Violence Prevention. This...
Posted by Linda Hepner on Tuesday, 3 July 2018
Public Safety Minister Mike Farnworth says the province will continue to target gun and gang violence and work with anti-gang units to ensure police have the tools they need to prevent crime.
Surrey residents have held anti-violence rallies calling for action, including more RCMP officers, after two teenage boys were recently found shot to death on a rural road and a father and hockey coach also was gunned down outside a home.
The task force says RCMP statistics suggest gang members involved in conflicts between 2014 and 2016 were age 23 on average and had committed their first criminal offence at the average age of 16.
