Editor’s Notebook – A war of words …

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 24/07/2010 (5939 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

war

noun

1. a conflict carried on by force of arms, as between nations or between parties within a nation; warfare, as by land, sea, or air.

 

conflict

verb

1. to come into collision or disagreement; be contradictory, at variance, or in opposition; clash.

 

— Dictionary.com

 

In addition to not-so-subtle hints of a potential all-out gang war in our streets last week, there was also a war of words taking place between the Brandon Police Service and the media.

More precisely, the BPS and the Brandon Sun.

On Wednesday, we ran a story by crime reporter Ian Hitchen with the headline: Shootings Linked To Gang War.

It seems two teens were in custody facing a slew of weapons charges after shots were fired at four houses late Monday night and early Tuesday morning as part of what one reliable source described to Hitchen as a "gang war," as at least some of the buildings shot at are connected to the Indian Posse street gang.

While it wasn’t officially released, our well-sourced reporter Hitchen learned the other gang could be a gang involved in a turf war with the Posse in Winnipeg in recent years.

So while that’s fine and dandy if those bunch of gangsters want to shoot each other up in Winnipeg’s North End — Winnipeg is the violent crime capital of Canada, after all — when someone starts firing shotguns and rifles at four homes in the heat of the night at homes in our historic residential areas, then action must be taken.

And a spade must be called a spade.

Just because shots were only fired by one side that night doesn’t mean this isn’t an indication that a gang war is taking place.

We just don’t know of all the gang-related beatings, stabbings, extortions, violent beat-ins (indoctrinations), burglaries, robberies drug deals and prostitution going on just under the surface in the Wheat City.

The crimes that make the headlines are the ones that get reported to police, the ones the Sun finds out about or the ones police choose to report to the public.

In this case, the shooting at houses in the 600-block of 10th Street, the 400-block of 10th Street, the 700-block of Louise Avenue and 600-block of 12th Street terrified residents in the area.

Police arrested two male youths and police were looking for a third male suspect.

Now, it appears, the BPS didn’t like our use of the term gang "war."

For on Wednesday, a curious news release appeared on the BPS website. Here are some excerpts:

"Brandon Police Service would like to respond to recent media coverage indicating that the gunfire in Brandon on Monday night was linked to a "gang war."

"The police service wants to emphasize that this event was not part of a ‘gang war,’ but was an isolated incident and indeed a rare occurrence within the city of Brandon.

"Certain residences were specifically targeted and the safety of the public in general was not in question."

That Wednesday police release differed substantially from the original one sent out on Tuesday when they said, "the matter is gang-related and not a random event."

How can idiot punks — untrained in safe and legal firearms use — rampaging through city streets and firing wildly at houses in the dark not put the general public at significant risk is beyond me.

And how does shooting at four different houses in four different parts of the city count as one incident? But I digress.

Look, Brandon is a relatively safe place to live. Much safer than our provincial capital. And I hope it stays that way.

Trying to obfuscate the obvious or soft-peddle the hard facts simply won’t help the situation.

This isn’t about public relations. This isn’t about a war of minds.

It’s about keeping out streets safe from a gang war before the other side fires back.

 

AND ABOUT THAT

 

On Thursday night, the police — including members from the heavily armed Tactical Response Unit — simultaneously stormed two city residences arresting a total of three people.

As reported in yesterday’s Sun, two men and a woman were seen in handcuffs outside a Westaway Bay residence shortly after 6 p.m. At about the same time, Brandon police and members of the animal control unit also attended a house in the 600-block of 12th Street.

That latter building is one of four in the city targeted in Monday’s gang shooting rampage.

Yesterday morning, police admitted the raids were a "response to recent gang-related activity."

Four prohibited small-calibre firearms, ammunition and two pellet guns were seized from the 12th Street residence during the search.

During the search at the Westaway Bay location, weapons that included two crossbows, two pellet guns and a BB gun were seized.

A male resident of this address arrived home during the search and was placed under arrest.

Now I’m no criminologist. And I’m not a sworn peace officer.

I’m just a guy who has covered a lot of crime stories in my career and sat through many trials in court.

So to my mind, if a gang is one night shooting at a house that contains guns, then you sorta gotta suppose the occupants of said shot at domicile might take up arms sooner than later and return fire.

So the police did a very good job of policing this week.

But I’d say, at the end of the week, they lost some ground in the war of words.

 

IF IT WALKS LIKE A DUCK

 

The Brandon Police Service has always been a bit touchy on the subject of street gangs in the city.

In November 2004, former chief Richard Bruce told the Sun he "wasn’t aware" of a gang problem in Brandon.

It wasn’t until early 2005 that then Brandon Police Service spokesman Sgt. Rick Semler finally said Indian Posse members are in our city.

"They live here … they’re here right now," Semler said, explaining then that gang members had come and gone from the city for years.

And it was also at that time in 2005 when Mayor Dave Burgess, citing "confidential" information, called organized crime in Brandon a problem "that we should nip in the bud."

"We’re not by any means immune to having that going on in our area," he said.

Indeed.