B.C. funds new anti-gang campaign after series of deadly shootings

SURREY (NEWS 1130) – The province is putting up money to bring back a Metro Vancouver Crime Stoppers campaign aimed specifically at gang violence.

The program wrapped up in 2019. However, the recent string of deadly shootings on the Lower Mainland has prompted a change in strategy.

As police continue to urge the public to report any information they may have about criminal activity, Linda Annis, who is the executive director of Metro Vancouver Crime Stoppers, says the $200,000 will help fund the new Guns & Gangs awareness campaign.

“Last time that we ran a similar program, there were 145 people that were arrested related to either gang or illegal weapons offences, and 219 guns were seized,” Annis explained of the campaign that started in 2016.

“More than 13 per cent of all of the tips that Crime Stoppers received during that period related to gun or gang activity,” she added.

There have been several gang-related shootings on the Lower Mainland in the past month. Most recently, a man with ties to the Brother’s Keepers was shot and killed in a very public setting, at Burnaby’s Market Crossing in front of a Cactus Club patio.

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Prior to that, another man was killed outside Vancouver International Airport’s departures terminal, prompting a massive police response that shut down roads into and out of Richmond.

The provincial funding for the new campaign will translate into public service announcements asking people to call Crime Stoppers anonymously with any gang-related tips.

“There’ll be billboards, bus shelters, TV campaigns, radio, social media — just to mention a few of the vehicles that we’ll be using,” said Annis.

She says it’s important to give people an opportunity to relay information to the authorities in an anonymous manner, noting there are often times that people are too scared to do so if their name’s may be linked to the report.

Annis says work continues to get the campaign ready to be rolled out.

“But the message out there is: If you call Crime Stoppers, you will remain anonymous.”

Anyone who has any information they’d like to report can call Crime Stoppers at 1.800.222.TIPS or www.solvecrime.ca.