OCT / NOV 2015News With A DESI View

39www.desitoday.ca

by Det. Jag Khosa Combined Forces Special Enforcement Unit

For the last 10 years, he has been serving as a Police of-ficer starting as an enforcement officer in Alberta and BC, and then transitioning into hiscurrent role as a Detective with Organized Crime Agency of BC which operates under the umbrella of Combined Forces Special Enforcement Unit - BC (CFSEU-BC).

At CFSEU, he had an opportunity be part of many ma-jor case investigations relating to homicides, international drug trafficking, weapons trafficking and other activities of organized crime groups. These projects were aimed at dis-rupting and suppressing gangs and organized crime groups across Canada. On the enforcement side, CFSEU-BC has been doing a great job in investigating and hindering move-ment of these violent Organized Gangs however there has been a void in raising awareness against gang lifestyle. Now he feels this is the right time to raise public awareness and educate parents and youth with knowledge and the appropri-ate skills that they could use in their own journey towards happy families and safer communities.

He believes that it is imperative to spread the message that we as a community can take an active role at a preven-tative stage and no one has to fight this battle alone. Turning around a misguided young person starts with one-on-one intervention. Parents who become involved with their childs life from an early age had a higher chance of keeping their young ones away from negative influence of gangs. This ar-ticle is his attempt to initiate a dialogue on a subject that has not been widely discussed.

physical force and severely beat the run-ners for losing product. Many of these cases have involved a runners nger be -ing cut o and hours of beatings. There are countless incidents where youth have been kidnapped, tortured and threatened at a gunpoint, simply because runners have lost the product to police or rival gang members. To top it o. even if some manage to keep some of their ill-goen gains, they have no legitimate place to keep their money.

Many aspects of street-level drug deal-ing can appear enticing, seemingly safe with lile risk and high reward. It is a mis -conception by young runners that they are able to acquire a lot of money during a short period of time without exerting much eort. But because drug dealers have no loyalty towards one another, if the situation requires one to save their own life, these gang members will turn on each other in the blink of an eye. We have seen kids as young as 17 and 18-years-old murdered for being just a drug dealer.

What you do as a parent, a sibling, or a guardian

I strongly suggest parents keep in-formed of their childrens daily activities, whether it is school or work. Time and time again, children commonly lie about their jobs to their parents. We have heard stories about many runners who tell their parents that they are helping with their friends family business or that they work as a security guard to explain their ab -sence during the day or most of the night. The excuses are endless, but the reality can become quickly obvious if you pay aention as a parent. One indicator that your child may be generating income from an illegal source is unexplained cash. If you witness your child carrying hey amounts of cash or nd bundles of money in your home, it is in your best interest to ask where it came from. Another sign that your child may be involved in this busi-ness is short trips being made at all hours in the day as drug transactions happen fairly quickly and oen during the day. Multiple cell phones are also noteworthy and may be an indicator that your child is involved in some sort of illegal activity.

Even though these are strong indica-tors, one should always use caution be -fore jumping to conclusions. Sometimes,

a young person can exhibit one of these signs and is simply being a teenager. How -ever, a combination of these indicators can be treated as a clear warning sign.

I am not encouraging parents to be -come suspicious of their childs every ac -tion or spy on them. Parents also need to trust their children and provide space as necessary during their teenage years so they grow into condent and independent adults. However, it is very important and critical to know where your child is at any given time and the type of activities or work that they engage in. The ideal way to become aware of various aspects of your childs life is not to dedicate your time to keeping tabs on what they are doing , but rather leing them come to you, showing them support, and engaging in positive two-way communication. Trust is an es -sential factor that leads to open communi-cation. It is important to make your child feel safe and important. An active role and awareness is important to prevent your child from falling prey to the lures of or -ganized crime.

For more information on gang preven-tion please visit endganglife.ca