Lower Mainland police not set up to catch gangsters: criminologist

Local police need to be better co-ordinated because a gang war is brewing in British Columbia, a criminology professor said Wednesday.

A spate of gang-style crimes since January of this year were likely linked, and the latest multiple homicides in Surrey prove violence has reached a new, higher level, said Rob Gordon, director of the School of Criminology at Simon Fraser University.

"There has been a long string of events over the last few months which would suggest there're retaliatory events underway," Gordon told CBC News Wednesday.

"These individuals think they can do what they do and get away with it, and I can tell you that they probably will."

There's a need for one big metropolitan police department in B.C. — like all other big cities in Canada — to attack the growing problem of gang activity, Gordon said.

"The [Lower Mainland] police are less organized than organized crime is," he said. "They're not able to even begin to compete with the kinds of highly profitable activities that a lot of these groups are involved in."

'Where it makes senseto go regional we're going regional. Where it makes sense to serve the community as a local police force we're staying with that.' —Supt. John Robin of the B.C. Integrated Gang Task Force

However, Supt. John Robin, who heads the province's Integrated Gang Task Force, disputes Gordon's comment, saying units such as his own are set up to co-ordinate between police departments.

"Where it makes sense to go regional we're going regional. Where it makes sense to serve the community as a local police force we're staying with that," Robin said Wednesday.

Police had said they believe the slayings that began in January were gang-related and targeted. No arrests have been made. Police have said they were reluctant to speculate that different gangs in the province are at war, and have not linked the cases.

Jan. 11 - Richmond

Kirk Robert Holifield, 35, was found slumped over the steering wheel of his truck. He had been shot. Police believe it was a case of mistaken identity and he was not the intended target.

Holifield left behind a wife and a 10-month-old daughter. "I am disgusted this [gang violence] is still going on," Eli Holifield, the victim's wife, said.

Feb. 23 - Vancouver

Miguel Rodriguez, 35, was shot in his BMW while driving through the intersection of 33rd Avenue and Arbutus Street, smashing into a parked minivan.Heallegedly was involved in drug trafficking.

Aug. 9 - East Vancouver

The Fortune Happiness Restaurant in East Vancouver was riddled with bullets after two masked men opened fire, killing two young men and injuring six others. The two dead men were known to police.

Sept. 12 - Vancouver

It was a Saturday night shoot up at Quattro Restaurant on 4th Avenue in Kitsilano. Two gunmen raided the restaurant, shooting at one man alleged to be a captain in a high-level gang. He survived and another woman was taken to hospital — both have not been co-operating with police.

Sept. 24 - East Vancouver

Jason Chun Sing Louie was slumped in the driver's seat of his black Infinity SUV near Vancouver Technical Secondary School. The engine of the vehicle was still running, the headlights and windshield wipers were on and the passenger door was left open.

Louie was a club promoter and was known to the police.

Oct. 10 -Surrey

A 38-year-old man involved in a shootout between two groups was found wounded in a Ford Explorer near Surrey Memorial Hospital about 20 minutes after the shootout.

Police said Dylan Krishna Becker was a career criminal and was shot in a targetedattack.

Oct. 19 - Surrey

Homicide investigators continued to scour an area Wednesday within 10 blocks of a Surrey, B.C., building where six men were killed, as provincial politicians demand tougher sentences to deter gang violence.