SASKATOON – A new survey commissioned by the Saskatoon Police Service shows gang activity is one of the top concerns in the city. Chief Clive Weighill says the public’s perception of gang activity matches the reality of what’s happening.
He says gang-related violence has been steadily rising since 2013.
In the survey, 26 per cent of the 513 people polled listed gangs as their top policing priority, second only to traffic violations at 41 per cent.
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Weighill says back in 2003, a similar survey showed only five per cent of those polled thought gangs were a problem.
The figures show that the violence comes mostly from gang-on-gang activity, but Weighill disagrees with criminologists who say the general public is not a risk.
“Sooner or later when you’re seeing shootings occur in a city, somebody innocent is going to get hurt,” said Weighill.
“Yes, most of the violence that we’re seeing is amongst the people that are in the gangs, but I think it’s incumbent upon our police service to make sure everybody is safe.”
He could not confirm rumours of an expected turf war breaking out this summer between two local aboriginal gangs, saying police have not heard anything about it.
“There’s always some jockeying going on between who is going to sell drugs in certain parts of the city. If we take down one gang, it just kind of makes a little bit of a vacuum for another one to move in.”
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