The B.C. RCMP's staff cuts to its specialized gang unit will not affect its operations in Prince George.
"Absolutely not," said Sgt. Lindsay Houghton said when asked Thursday whether a $2.8-million reduction to the budget for the Combined Forces Special Enforcement Unit will have an impact locally.
The unit will cut one of six 12-member teams in Metro Vancouver while the Prince George team will remain untouched.
In 2009, a team was established in Prince George to quell a growing gang problem in this city. Its investigations have led to a number of major arrests, gun seizures and grow-op takedowns.
In June the unit was involved in the arrest of Ryan John Moore, 23, after police received a tip that people were firing automatic weapons at a gravel pit outside the city.
Moore, the son of Billy Moore, who was the president of the Prince George Renegades Motorcycle Club, a puppet group of the Vancouver Hells Angels before he was murdered in 2005, now faces 15 firearms-related charges and remains in custody.
None of the allegations against Moore have yet been proven in court.
