Gang Prevention Initiatives

GANG PREVENTION INITIATIVES

Manitoba Justice works with partner departments to address the root causes of crime. There are many initiatives underway in Manitoba that directly or indirectly prevent youth from being gang involved. The provincial government also implements specific gang prevention, intervention and suppression activities.

LEGISLATIVE SUPPORTS:

· The Courthouse Security Act

· The Criminal Property Forfeiture Act

· The Cross-Border Policing Act

· The Fortified Buildings Act

· The Safer Communities and Neighbourhoods Act

· The Witness Security Act

JUSTICE SYSTEM SUPPORTS:

· Almost doubling funding for police since 1999 to $111.9 million including support for 758 RCMP officers across the province, 120 officers in Winnipeg and 12 officers in Brandon.

· Increasing by 130 per cent the budget for prosecutions since 1999 including the addition of 29 Crown prosecutors .

· Establishing a gang unit in prosecutions, resulting in 1,047 convictions and guilty pleas since November 2003.

· Providing support to the Manitoba Integrated Organized Crime Task Force.

· Establishing a provincial witness protection program.

· Establishing a gang intelligence unit in corrections.

FOR CHILDREN:

· Community Schools Investigator Summer Learning Enrichment Program

· Roots of Empathy

· Turnabout

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FOR YOUTH:

· CHOICES Youth Program

· Dakota Ojibway Tribal Council Gang Disempowerment Conference

· Gang Prevention Network

· Immigrant and Refugee Community Organization of Manitoba Newcomer Youth in Trades Project

· Intergovernmental Affairs support to City of Winnipeg recreation directors

· Lighthouses

· Life Skills Training Program

· Ma-Mow-We-Talk Friendship Centre:

- Northern Circle of Youth

- Northern Youth Councils Project

- Street Involved Youth Outreach Program

- Youth Employment Assistance Services

· Manitoba Association of Friendship Centres Safeguarding Aboriginal Youth Spirits Project

· National Crime Prevention Centre Youth Gang Prevention Fund Project:

- Circle of Courage by Ka Ni Kanichihk

- Just TV Pilot Project by West Broadway Neighbourhood Centre

- Project OASIS by New Directions

- Turning the Tides, Ndinawe

- West Central Youth Outreach by Spence Neighbourhood Association and West Central Women’s Resource Centre

· Safe Schools Manitoba

· School Resource Officers

· Spotlight Unit

· Take Action in Schools, WPS School Resources Unit

· Training Resources for Youth

· Winnipeg Auto Theft Suppression Strategy

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FOR PARENTS:

· Manitoba Poverty Reduction Strategy

· Triple P Positive Parenting Program

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FOR ADULTS

· Project Gang-Proof

· Stop FASD

· Training, Education Resources for Females (TERF)

· Ogijiita Pimatiswin Kinamatwin (OPK) Renovation Program

THE PROVINCE IS LOBBYING THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT TO:

· Make gang murders an automatic first-degree murder charge where the accused was an active gang member and where the murder was part of the gang’s activities.

· Create a new drive-by shooting offence with increased penalties including a minimum term of imprisonment where the shooter was an active participant in a criminal gang.

· List established criminal organizations in the Criminal Code to make it clear this need not be proven over and over again in each prosecution across Canada.

· Establish gang-free zones throughout Canada so that places where youths tend to go such as schools, playgrounds and parks will be free of gang activity. Increase criminal penalties where offences occur within a gang-free zone including mandatory jail terms in certain situations.

· Establish a new offence of recruiting a person to become a member of a gang.

· Expand the dangerous offender provisions of the Criminal Code to include hard-core gang members.

· Clarify that judges can impose any reasonable condition necessary to protect the public when granting recognizance orders under s. 810.01, s. 810.1 or s. 810.2 of the Criminal Code.

· Review whether legally authorized random searches of offenders on parole and conditional sentences involving house detention are feasible in Canada.

· Toughen bail provisions of the Criminal Code where a gun was used or possessed during the commission of an offence.

· Increase jail terms available for marijuana-grow operations including mandatory minimum sentences where the evidence demonstrates a significant commercial-level operation.