Adults attending the B.C. Crime Prevention Association's northern symposium got a chance to take in a presentation Prince George RCMP Cpl. Carissa Hornoi has been giving to Grade 8 classes dispelling several misconceptions about gangs.
With the help of basic information about how gangs work, graphic images of gang members who ended up on the wrong side of their associates and a locally-acted video of just how horribly things can go wrong, Hornoi has set out to show gang life is anything but glamourous.
Gangs may seem to offer protection but actually increase the risk of physical violence, they may seem tight like a family but are run on intimidation and fear and no one trusts anyone, and most live a life of penury as they are forced to commit crimes to work off debts both real and imagined.
At one point, Hornoi shows photos of a crack shack - a bare, unfinished basement with a few worn and torn couches into which drugs are lowered from a hole in the ceiling once money has been sent up.
At another, photos of victims who were beaten, stabbed and even had their fingers chopped off for failing to pay as little as $200 are shown.
"This presentation is as much about drugs as it is about gangs, because the drug trade is owned by organized crime," Hornoi said. "It's just really telling and I think it's really sad."
A common tactic to draft recruits is to offer "free drugs," for which gang members convince the newcomers to return the favour with increasingly questionable activities, from running drugs to cracks shacks to helping to beat up people who owe money.
The same tactics are often used to draw young women into prostitution. If not drugs, gifts are used to lure them into feeling an obligation that's reinforced with intimidation and violence.
Perhaps most compelling is a series of short video sequences that show how seemingly regular people can be drawn into the lifestyle and before they know it are in over their heads. Once hooked on drugs and caught up in the fear and threats, gang members do things they never thought they would.
Hornoi said the students have responded well to the presentation but warned it can go only so far. Anyone, from a background of poverty to well-to-do can end up in a gang.
"In my 18 years of policing, I've never met a sex trade worker who's said 'I want to be a hooker when I grow up,'" Hornoi said.
Giving youth a clear picture of the life is a good step toward keeping them out of gangs, Hornoi said. Encouraging them to pursue healthier and more productive pursuits - and just finding other ways to have fun from skiing to music to hobbies is also key.
"It's kind of cheesy, but I always like to say 'get high on life,'" Hornoi said.
