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Gazette - New integrated gang unit for northwestern Ontario
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COVER SECTION
By Jean Floyd
Courtesy the Thunder Bay Police Service
Four members of the Regional Integrated Gang Unit (left-right): D/Cst Rick Popowich (TBPS), D/Sgt Andy Clark (TBPS), Cst Ron Hines (RCMP) and D/Cst Jason Rybak (TBPS).
Police forces in northwestern Ontario have formed an integrated front against growing gang activity in Thunder Bay and outlying areas.
The Regional Integrated Gang Unit (RIGU) — composed of 11 officers from the RCMP, the Thunder Bay Police Service and the Nishnawbe-Aski Police Service — was created in September 2007 in response to increased violent gang activity, including assaults, sexual assaults, robberies home invasions, and traditional crimes of profit such as theft, drugs and prostitution.
“It involves the creation of a seamless unit that has three primary mandates: intelligence gathering, education, and investigation and enforcement,” says RCMP Sgt Rob Cameron, who oversees the RCMP’s Thunder Bay detachment and sits on RIGU’s joint management team.
RIGU has identified nine gangs currently operating in the Thunder Bay area, and about 135 gang members — some with connections to gangs in Toronto or Manitoba.
The unit has also moved quickly to fulfil its enforcement mandate. In October 2007, RIGU collaborated with the Thunder Bay Community Response Team to successfully charge three adult males with possession of a controlled substance for the purpose of trafficking and possession of the proceeds of crime.
