CAUGHT IN THE CROSSFIRE

The level of fear about being caught in the crossfire between gang
rivals has gone up several notches.

This follows Monday's shootings in Surrey - one of which killed a
23-year-old White Rock mother who was driving along 148 Street. Her
four-year-old son was in the car with her. Thankfully, he was not injured.

A second incident in Whalley saw a man shot while he was in a Range
Rover - the same kind of vehicle that 21-year-old Raphael Baldini was
sitting in when he was shot and killed in the Guildford Town Centre
parking lot on Feb. 3.

In the Whalley incident, the injured man was apparently an innocent
victim. The exact connection of the woman killed Monday to gangs
isn't known, but early reports indicate that while she may have known
some gang members, she had no direct involvement.

Confirmation that some innocent people are being shot makes many
people angry and fearful. They have every right to be able to go
about their day-to-day business without fear of being shot. This is
not a place where one should expect that.

Canada is one of the safest countries in the world. Most people are
law-abiding. Most people in this country do not own guns, and the
vast majority who do don't transport them on the streets of Surrey,
seeking to shoot someone else.

What can be done? That's the question plaguing police, court and
government officials.

There are laws on the books which could help remove some gang members
from the streets. Bail provisions could be tightened. There could be
more of a crackdown in importation of handguns, although that would
do nothing to discourage those who already have weapons.

The fact is, the Canadian justice system is singularly ill-equipped
to deal with an outbreak of this type. The entire system is built
around the premise that someone charged with a crime is presumed to
be innocent. That means those charged with an offence (or many
offences) can and do take full advantage of the system - particularly
when crime is a way of life for them.

Some voices are calling for a legalization of marijuana to stop the
gangland killings, as many criminals are involved in trafficking in
this relatively benign drug.

This is a red herring.

Gangs are involved in far more than marijuana distribution. They
traffic in many hard drugs, and deal in weapons. They will take on
any line of business that brings in wads of tax-free money.

Innocent people are not likely to be caught in the crossfire, but it
will be hard to convince many of them of that fact. They have
legitimate fears, and they want to see the situation change.

While more police and a co-ordinated effort with the courts and
prosecutors may well take more gangsters off the streets for now, the
big problem remains.

Young people will continue to think they are immortal - even when a
close friend of theirs dies.

For now, we need to report any suspicions to police - either through
regular channels or Crimestoppers, which allows for anonymity.

This community belongs to all of us, and it is going to take a
co-ordinated effort to get at least some peace and order back again.

In the long run, there must be much more intervention by parents,
teachers and all those with an influence on children. We must make it
clear to them that gang activity is given the black mark it so richly deserves.