The tone of Monday’s press conference held by police agencies to discuss the spate of Metro Vancouver shootings – including Burnaby - was pretty predictable.
There was a lot of tough talk as senior officers took turns at the microphone to address how our region has turned into the Wild West - again. One man was murdered in Burnaby, with a bystander also getting shot, while another was gunned down at Vancouver International Airport, leading to a brief chase in which someone shot at the police. This follows a BC Corrections officer being shot to death in a mall parking lot. These shootings follow even more shootings across our region, including two men being shot to death in separate attacks in Burnaby in February.
So, with people rightly freaking out about this kind of violence, the senior officers had to put on a strong showing to get out the message that police haven’t lost control of the situation.
There was a lot of talk about police agencies being “united” to battle these gangs and a defence of the resources they have available.
“Police use all sorts of tools that we have in our toolbox,” said Manny Mann with the Combined Forces Special Enforcement Unit.
Supt. Graham De la Gorgendiere, the acting officer in charge of the Burnaby RCMP, said their dedicated gang enforcement team, launched in January, is working to combat gang activity in the city. In the last three months, he said the team has made 400 vehicle checks targeting individuals with suspected gang ties.
“We are making a dent in deterring and disrupting gang activity, but there’s still much work to be done," De la Gorgendiere said.
I appreciate what they were trying to do, but it felt like a lot of false bravado. A “dent” is a pretty big claim to make.
The sad fact is that when it comes to shootings, police agencies – no matter where in the world – are pretty helpless. If one group wants to take someone out, it’s nearly impossible for police to know ahead of time. Police have their sources, but those only go so far.
I feel like I’ve heard all of this before. Every year or two gang violence explodes and police hold press conferences and puff out their chests in an effort to calm the public. Then things go quiet until the next conflict.
Rinse, repeat.
It's exhausting and infuriating. We need better solutions than just police, like ending the futile war on drugs
Meanwhile, we all hold our breath and hope that innocent bystanders don’t get hurt, like what happened on Saturday.
A 20-year-old man has been charged with first-degree murder in what police say was a gang-linked shooting. Toni Dalipi, 19, was shot to death outside a vape store on Sixth Street near 13th Avenue at about 7 p.m.
On Monday, the Integrated Homicide Investigation Team announced charges had been laid against 20-year-old Ahmed Riyaz Tahir.
It’s some comfort that a suspect has been arrested.
At least we have that.
- With additional reporting by Cornelia Naylor
Follow Chris Campbell on Twitter @shinebox44.
