Gazette - Beyond turf

COVER SECTION

Greed and notoriety fuel Toronto gangs

By Det/Sgt Douglas Quan
Integrated Gun and Gang Task Force
Toronto Police Service

The late 1990s leading into the new millennium was a volatile period on the streets of Toronto. The Greater Toronto Area (GTA) was experiencing a rise in brazen, high-profile shootings in a number of very different communities. This escalation in firearms use and gang-related activity was the catalyst for the Toronto Police Service (TPS) to embark on a series of pilot projects and focused task forces to address the problem head-on.

Courtesy the Toronto Police Service
MCF or Money Comes First illustrates the gang subculture philosophy. This photo comes from a Southeast Asian gang that adopted the North American gangsta culture.

Between 2000 and 2001, the TPS created a Street Violence Task Force, which evolved into the Gun Task Force pilot project. This initiative, led by a focused group of investigators, communicated with all specialized sub units and front line officers to gather intelligence and conduct timely enforcement. The Gun Task Force was very successful in its efforts and resulting seizures; however, it also revealed the need for a permanent unit to address ongoing illegal firearms problems. The co-ordinated efforts of the Gun Task Force also uncovered a growing subculture of gang-related activity, and thus the Gang Task Force came to fruition.

In 2003, the units were amalgamated to form the Gun and Gang Task Force. During this period, the unit also embarked upon its first major case to address street gangs as organized crime (under Section 467 of the Criminal Code). Upon the heels of several successful major cases and daily enforcement efforts, the unit evolved into what is now the Integrated Gun and Gang Task Force (IGGTF).

Integrated effort

The IGGTF is now one of the largest units in the TPS. It is also one of the largest units in the country that deals with the many issues associated with organized crime enforcement — particularly that of organized criminal street gangs.

IGGTF operations consist of the combined efforts of four subsections. There are six Daily Enforcement Teams, a Gang Investigative Support section, a Major Projects section (Part VI “wiretap” investigations), and the Firearms Investigations and Analysis Unit. This latter unit conducts expert examinations, verifications and investigative support for all firearms seizures and related occurrences in the TPS.

The Daily Enforcement Teams are truly integrated, having the support of three members of the RCMP and six members of the Ontario Provincial Police who are seconded from the Provincial Weapons Enforcement Unit. The integrated members work directly with the TPS members, addressing and supporting the TPS mandate to improve community safety. The Daily Enforcement Teams support all of the specialized units of the TPS — including the Homicide Squad and the Hold Up Squad — with surveillance, enforcement and complex investigative resources.

The evolution of the IGGTF has cultivated a vast amount of investigative experience garnered through a commitment to 24-hour response and support to all violent gang- and firearms-related incidents. The experience and intelligence gathered through daily investigations, and through the hundreds of thousands of intercepted communications via the Major Projects section, has placed the investigators in a unique and very informed position to address the climate of street violence often caused by organized criminal street gangs.

Greed trumps territory

The City of Toronto has over 140 documented and known gangs that operate within the municipal boundaries. However, criminal street gangs are dynamic and continuously evolving. While 75 of these gangs remain somewhat consistent in their activities, about 20 to 25 of them are on the radar at all times. It is these 20 to 25 gangs that present the strongest threat to community safety and require the most attention for current policing initiatives.

Courtesy the Toronto Police Service
M.O.B. in gang culture has a few meanings: Member of Bloods, Murderer of Bloods (some Crips may sport this tattoo) or Money over Bitches, which is usually inked on skin on a vertical plane.

The criminal enterprises of organized criminal street gangs are vast and varied. These gangs are into advanced networks of drug distribution (import–export–cultivation), armed robberies, weapons trafficking, vehicle thefts, sophisticated frauds, identity theft, and extreme acts of violence including shootings and homicides.

Most gangs in Toronto are territorially based. However, there is a growing trend in the mobility of these larger gangs as their criminal endeavours such as drug dealing require them to move about the GTA. This also creates a greater propensity for conflict as rivals may clash over control of disputed territory and illicit clientele. The gangs in the Toronto area are also changing dynamically in that there is a trend away from traditional, more ethnically based gangs. The gangs have grown in membership and possess a mentality that is driven more by financial or material needs, as well as a desire for notoriety.

The underlying principles and motivators behind all gangs are money, power and respect. The gang subculture is heavily influenced by pop culture and multimedia sources. In turn, the gang subculture also heavily influences those media. The money–power–respect principle fuels the expansion of turf and criminal activity and is also the root cause of most of the overt aggression that results in the shootings and homicides that plague many communities.

Where there is a market for gangs to operate, they will find a way to capitalize on the opportunities. Those who can provide the necessary tools and resources for the gang to succeed will benefit most, gaining the power and respect of their own membership and that of rivals alike. Gangs are not a new phenomenon. They have existed in many forms over many generations. They continue to employ the tactics of fear and intimidation to further their goals.

Sharing insight

As mentioned previously, gangs are expanding beyond their territorial bases to increase the capability of their members to drive the financial engine. In several surrounding GTA urban areas, gangs are capable of running sophisticated drug and fraud operations at the same time. Hence, many neighbouring police agencies have seen an influx of gang-related crime in their jurisdictions.

One of the greatest challenges in policing gang activity is the need for current and accurate intelligence as these operations grow, expand and evolve. It is absolutely essential that gang intelligence and gang enforcement units enhance their capacity to share information and support each others’ investigations. All policing units must enhance their efforts at documenting, sourcing and sharing their intelligence and experience in a timely and organized fashion.

As the scope and scale of criminal gang activity evolves in urban and rural areas, municipal boundaries become less important. Turf or territory struggles will always be a root cause of violence, but the mobility of modern gangs becomes a greater problem for officer and community safety as the gang members pass through our respective jurisdictions, carrying out their business — and make no mistake, it is business to them.

Although almost every police service has its own definition and criteria for identifying gang-related crime, the same five or six identifiers — such as observed behaviour in gang activity or possession of gang paraphernalia — are often used. Also, there are extreme resource and budget limitations in most regions when

it comes to specific gang enforcement abilities. Thus, common sense and co-operation, combined with a commitment to properly document, source and share useful information, will allow each police service to effectively identify its gang problems and, ultimately, better understand and address the safety of its communities.