WATCH ABOVE: Abbotsford Police try a new strategy to deter escalating youth crime in their community. Jill Bennett reports.
VANCOUVER – Abbotsford Police are stepping up their efforts to stop gang activity in the area.
They issued a warning to residents in early July and after a quiet month, police say two rival gangs are starting to fight once again.
Police are so concerned they have now put up surveillance cameras to keep an eye on the areas where the most gang activity is happening.
That involves a large amount of property damage and some fights between members.
Police say they’ve sat down with city official and the parents of some of these teens.
While their short-term efforts worked, they say they now need to step up patrols and interrupt incidents before they occur.
“It’s a unique circumstance we’re facing as a community,” said Cst. Ian MacDonald with the Abbotsford Police Department. It’s a public safety issue. We have young men, two groups of young men that are in conflict. We’re not even certain that they know what the conflict is about but we certainly don’t want to see young men carted off in ambulances here.”
“There’s been a large amount of property damage. We’ve seen family vehicles, family homes damaged, we have seen some injuries and casualties to both sides, and certainly we don’t want to see that amplified.”
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