An old advertising campaign is being resurrected in response to recent gang shootings in Burnaby and other parts of Metro Vancouver.
The Ministry of Public Safety and Solicitor General is giving the Metro Vancouver Crime Stoppers group $200,000 to revive its “Guns and Gangs” advertising campaign for a one-year period.
“The new campaign will be designed to re-engage the public and urge everyone to save lives and keep the community safe by anonymously providing information that can help police make arrests in connection with gang and illegal weapons crimes,” said a news release. “The appeal is aimed especially at those in a position to anonymously provide information from personal connections they may have with gang members. They may want to do the right thing but don’t want to be identified as informants.”
I guess that’s, uh, something.
We’re coming off one man being killed and two others being injured in a shooting last Thursday in the parking lot of Market Crossing, plus another man killed and one wounded in a separate shooting the weekend before that.
And then there are the multiple shootings around Metro Vancouver as part of a widespread gang war.
Police agencies have been working overtime on social media trying to calm down the public in the wake of the spate of shootings. I saw a lot of tweets about “gang units” working the streets on the weekend.
I’m not sure the copaganda was successful with many people.
Our #BurnabyGangEnforcementTeam will be doing targeted patrols through the weekend, as they do seven days a week.
— Burnaby RCMP (@BurnabyRCMP) May 15, 2021
Their work includes targeted enforcement focused on those with gang ties, including vehicle checks. pic.twitter.com/6kVZunicIe
More convincing was the response from the Burnaby RCMP.
“Disregard for human life is not to be tolerated. This is our number 1 priority,” Supt. Graham De la Gorgendiere said at a press conference at Burnaby RCMP headquarters Friday.
De la Gorgendiere said Burnaby RCMP is redeploying resources to bolster its anti-gang efforts, adding two more officers to its 13 member gang team for the weekend and moving forward. He said other teams with an interest in gangs, such as the community response team and drug squad, will also be involved.
I don’t know if more cops is something that will make a big difference, but action seems better than an ad campaign urging people to snitch.
Follow Chris Campbell on Twitter @shinebox44.
