Calgary Police Service (CPS) is working with police forces across Canada to combat the rise in organized crime following the string of violent shootings across the city. A man was shot in broad daylight in a Calgary mall parking lot Monday, and police are investigating whether the homicide was related to organized crime. A 14-year-old has been charged with murder and his brother, 18-years-old, has been charged with accessory to murder after the fact. Across the country, Canadians have seen gang conflicts on the rise in the last few years, with the Lower Mainland gang conflict in BC shifting east, and gang-related shootings in Edmonton, Toronto, and Montreal.CPS Deputy Chief Cory Dayley told the Western Standard on Tuesday CPS communicates daily with organized crime units across the country. There are also designated committees to combat the rising problem nation-wide. “Calgary, on a daily basis, is in communication with BC, their organized crime unit and likewise across the country,” Dayley said. “We’re pretty in step with that.”“There’s also national committees,” he explained. “Like Canadian Integrative Response to Organized Crime, that meets on a biannual basis at an executive level and strategic level and discusses how it can support and innovate and continue to evolve to the evolving conflicts we see across the country.”Dayley said these meetings are “ongoing” and the committee continues to examine if more meetings are needed and if it has “deployed resources” effectively. When asked what is being done legislatively to deal with the rise in organized gun violence, the deputy police chief said the Alberta Association of Chiefs of Police and the Canadian Association of Chiefs of Police are working with some Albertan politicians on the matter. “[To] speak on behalf of police across the country to lobby with the Liberal politicians for legislative reform around bail reform,” he told the Western Standard.Sgt. Sean Gregson of the Homicide Unit spoke about the challenges surrounding organized crime-related gun violence, including the instances becoming more brazen. He also discussed the “concerning” rise of youth involvement. “Organized crime-related homicides are historically some of the most difficult cases to solve,” Greyson said. “We’re exploring all the connections that could exist; we do believe that this is connected to some of the ongoing violence. Which ones specifically, we're still working on that right now.”“This shooting occurred in a busy shopping mall parking lot, we’ve seen that recently, many times. This sort of violence, whether it be this homicide or other shootings, in a public place, where people gather, there’s a level of risk there.”“The public is tired of this, we’re tired for this,” he said. “We’re going to hold those offenders responsible.”“We're not done yet. We still have a lot of work to do, a lot of pieces of this puzzle. We're still seeking any information from anybody that may help fill those gaps.”As for younger people involved in organized crime, “I think it’s very concerning,” Gregson said. “Definitely we’ve seen an increase.”“We’ve seen young offenders involved in crime for a long time. To this degree, that's taken as a very serious concern.”
Calgary Police Service (CPS) is working with police forces across Canada to combat the rise in organized crime following the string of violent shootings across the city. A man was shot in broad daylight in a Calgary mall parking lot Monday, and police are investigating whether the homicide was related to organized crime. A 14-year-old has been charged with murder and his brother, 18-years-old, has been charged with accessory to murder after the fact. Across the country, Canadians have seen gang conflicts on the rise in the last few years, with the Lower Mainland gang conflict in BC shifting east, and gang-related shootings in Edmonton, Toronto, and Montreal.CPS Deputy Chief Cory Dayley told the Western Standard on Tuesday CPS communicates daily with organized crime units across the country. There are also designated committees to combat the rising problem nation-wide. “Calgary, on a daily basis, is in communication with BC, their organized crime unit and likewise across the country,” Dayley said. “We’re pretty in step with that.”“There’s also national committees,” he explained. “Like Canadian Integrative Response to Organized Crime, that meets on a biannual basis at an executive level and strategic level and discusses how it can support and innovate and continue to evolve to the evolving conflicts we see across the country.”Dayley said these meetings are “ongoing” and the committee continues to examine if more meetings are needed and if it has “deployed resources” effectively. When asked what is being done legislatively to deal with the rise in organized gun violence, the deputy police chief said the Alberta Association of Chiefs of Police and the Canadian Association of Chiefs of Police are working with some Albertan politicians on the matter. “[To] speak on behalf of police across the country to lobby with the Liberal politicians for legislative reform around bail reform,” he told the Western Standard.Sgt. Sean Gregson of the Homicide Unit spoke about the challenges surrounding organized crime-related gun violence, including the instances becoming more brazen. He also discussed the “concerning” rise of youth involvement. “Organized crime-related homicides are historically some of the most difficult cases to solve,” Greyson said. “We’re exploring all the connections that could exist; we do believe that this is connected to some of the ongoing violence. Which ones specifically, we're still working on that right now.”“This shooting occurred in a busy shopping mall parking lot, we’ve seen that recently, many times. This sort of violence, whether it be this homicide or other shootings, in a public place, where people gather, there’s a level of risk there.”“The public is tired of this, we’re tired for this,” he said. “We’re going to hold those offenders responsible.”“We're not done yet. We still have a lot of work to do, a lot of pieces of this puzzle. We're still seeking any information from anybody that may help fill those gaps.”As for younger people involved in organized crime, “I think it’s very concerning,” Gregson said. “Definitely we’ve seen an increase.”“We’ve seen young offenders involved in crime for a long time. To this degree, that's taken as a very serious concern.”
