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Front steps of the Prince George Courthouse, a source of stability in an otherwise rancorous environment |
Prince George, B.C., has been busy in the crime news these past few weeks. During the last days of September two premiers (Gordon Campbell, B.C.; Ed Stelmach, Alberta) and their cabinets (10 from Alberta and 11 from B.C.) came to the city of 70,000-plus in the central interior of B.C.. That's one. The Highway of Tears with dozens of pins on the map indicating missing and murdered women, is several other stories.
A number of joint measures on crime came high on the agenda as the governments made a series of announcements. It was a positive show from the two governments and well-received according to the daily press. Then, scant days later came a double homicide in the first week of October (the 2nd and 3rd murders of the year for the city).
Victims Garett John McComb, 23, and Brittany Joan Giese, 19, were residents of Prince George. The city of Prince George had been witnessing some spectacular outbursts of violence from gangs during the months before police were called to the scene of these last two homicides.
Reports did not specify whether the two murder victims were living in the rental house on Webber Crescent, which is part of a quiet suburban area in the far west end of the city.
Police said they were called to investigate 'something amiss' at the high-priced rental property, and that turned out to be double homicide. The house was familiar to police, they said, from a raid days earlier resulting in arrests and confiscation of a cache of firearms.
Police initially refrained from discussing motive then said the murders were probably targeted and gang related.
RCMP spokesman Const. Gary Godwin told media, "Both of these individuals are known to police."
And it so happens a vehicle in the driveway of the murder scene, 2347 Webber Crescent, was a shot up Lincoln Navigator which had been riddled with bullets in a gunfight earlier this summer in the city's rough and tumble downtown.
"It appears to be a targeted double homicide. Just the scene of the crime indicates it is a murder," Godwin said. "We're familiar with this residence." The murders and shootings in the city this year have been gang-related, said Godwin.
The murders came as a bizarre aftermath to the premiers' visit which endeavored to highlight crime on the bilateral relationship between the governments, calling especially for safer communities. (It was the sixth such annual meeting between the B.C. and Alberta provincial cabinets.)
The joint cabinet meeting focused on creating safer communities. They announced the two governments will be working on a joint missing persons' database and intend to share best practices on aiding victims of crime.
"We want to make it as difficult as possible for criminals to operate in our provinces," Stelmach said. The provinces agreed to co-operate on community safety initiatives and efforts to stem in particular the rising tide of gang crime.
The provinces also intend to get tough on repeat offenders, and will launch a pilot project to expedite warrants of serious offenders that call for return to the issuing jurisdiction.
"Our two provinces are partnering to crack down on crime and focus on making communities in B.C. and Alberta safe. By working in co-operation, we can be more effective at tracking offenders and supporting victims of crime," said British Columbia Premier Gordon Campbell.
The two premiers expressed concerns about the effectiveness of the criminal justice system. They said they want to work with the federal government and other provinces in a few specific areas, including the range of sentencing for all criminal offences including youth sentencing; the principles of sentencing; review of bail provisions; review of procedures for preliminary hearings; and quick action to fill legislative gaps created by the courts that hinder police investigations and prosecutions.
Premier Stelmach stressed the importance of Alberta and B.C. joining forces to make the justice system work in order for citizens to feel safe. "Crime knows no borders. Our joint efforts today will focus on making it as difficult and uncomfortable as possible for criminals to operate in our provinces while at the same time boosting our efforts to aid victims of crime."
After the premiers and their cabinets had departed, the city turned to task at hand. Reports from the city this year contained explicit details of gang warfare as Crime Watch Canada reported last month.
Police were dealing with drive-by shootings, kidnappings for drug debt, and "a peculiar localized propensity for snipping fingers off crack users who fall into debt (fingers are lost for as little as $200 worth of crack cocaine)."
The gangs participating in Prince George included the Independent Posse (First Nations), the Independent Soldiers (Indo-Canadians), the Renegades (a splinter group of the Hell's Angels), and others.
Thus it was that in the days preceding the double homicide in the city police were implementing a community-oriented strategy to intervene on gang developments. In fact, the RCMP organized an information session in the first week of October aimed at educating the Sikh community about criminal gangs.
