Since 2002, we’ve added 1,100 extra police officers across BC, including 168 more officers, and new anti-gang units in Prince George and Kelowna. Municipalities now receive 100 per cent of all traffic fine revenues, to help them hire more police and improve community safety. Local governments received no assistance under the NDP.

We have also created a team of 26 prosecutors who are dedicated to prosecuting gang and gun crimes. We have led the way in Canada in convincing the federal government to pursue tougher sentencing under the Criminal Code, including tougher bail provisions and eliminating the “two-for-one” credits for time served while waiting for trial that have historically reduced sentences for convicted criminals.

Our plan includes funding for more jails, new rewards for catching criminals, new steps to outlaw armoured vehicles and body armour used by gangs, and tough new licensing provisions for “prop masters” who supply replica weapons to the film industry. It includes new anti-gang outreach programs, to help prevent young people from joining gangs.

Cracking down on gangs and gun crimes

1. More police officers
2. More prosecutors
3. More jails and secure courts
4. Tougher laws and sentences
   
5. Crackdown on illegal guns
6. Outlaw armoured vehicles and body armour
7. New gang hotlines and rewards program
   

With our federal MPs, a BC Liberal Government will continue to push for modern wiretap rules, simplified disclosure requirements, and mandatory jail for anyone carrying an illegal gun while on bail. We will give local governments in Metro Vancouver the opportunity to recommend the most appropriate site for a new maximum security remand centre. And we will work with local governments to pursue regional policing models, more integrated policing units and amalgamated police forces, in keeping with the wishes of those communities.

For more on our plan to fight gangs, gun violence and organized crime visit www.gov.bc.ca/pssg