Alberta Gang Reduction Strategy (AGRS)

Awareness. Prevention. Intervention. Enforcement.

Whether we are aware or not, gang crime affects us all. Alberta is committed to reducing the influence of gang related crime in our communities. 

Gangs are a growing problem in jurisdictions across Canada, including Alberta, and have become a matter of great public concern. Gangs have spread throughout many of our communities, and are engaged in a variety of criminal activities – mostly the sale of illegal drugs, but also other serious crimes including extortion, fraud, identity theft, human trafficking, and living off the avails of prostitution.

The implications of gangs for our communities and our province are serious. Gangs undermine public safety and personal security. They routinely use violence to enforce their operations and are likely to carry weapons, especially firearms. Gang-related shootings and homicides cause fear and apprehension in our communities.

Gangs also threaten to rob Alberta's youth of productive, healthy and happy futures. They actively recruit our children and youth, especially those facing challenges and those who are marginalized or socially excluded due to race, gender or socio-economic status. The gang lifestyle is especially alluring to disenfranchised youth who feel left out and left behind by society, offering them a false sense of hope, optimism, opportunity and belonging.

Alberta Gang Reduction Strategy
Alberta Gang Reduction Strategy - Community Site
Civil forfeiture funds available for community-based gang reduction efforts
Gang-related prevention programs funded through the Safe Communities Innovation Fund
Gang and drug-related resources and links
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Alberta Gang Reduction Strategy

Extensive research on promising practices and consultations with community stakeholders, culminating in the 2009 Alberta Gang Crime Summit in Calgary, identified the need for better information sharing, increased collaboration, improved efficiency and greater integration in the way that community partners, police and government take action to reduce gang-related crime in our communities. Such an approach requires broad-based, collaborative engagement by all community members - including parents, neighbours, teachers, health professionals, children and youth services, and community based organizations - working together in new and innovative ways to reduce gang activity in our province.

Released on December 6, 2010, Alberta Gang Reduction Strategy is a long-term, comprehensive blueprint for action to suppress gangs and gang crime in Alberta. This plan strikes a balance between awareness, prevention, intervention and enforcement. The strategy is focused on disrupting organized crime and maintaining safe and strong communities now, and for years to come.

Goals

The goals of this comprehensive strategy are to:

• Reduce gang-related crime and violence in Alberta and;
  
• Strengthen ongoing efforts to develop an integrated, comprehensive, and sustainable approach to gang suppression.

Alberta Gang Reduction Strategy - Community Site

The Alberta Gang Reduction Strategy - Community website enables those that are actively engaged in reducing gangs and gang-related crime to participate in training webcasts, readily access resource materials, and to stay informed about upcoming events. Here, you will also find presentation material from the 2012 Alberta Gang Reduction Training Symposium, and the 2009 Gang Summit. The site is also home for the Alberta Gang Reduction Practitioners Network which is currently being developed.

Civil forfeiture funds available for community-based gang reduction efforts

Alberta communities most impacted by gang activity, particularly those in rural, remote and Aboriginal communities, can now apply for a one-time grant ($50,000 to $150,000 over a two-year period) to support local initiatives aimed at reducing gang crime and violence through effective prevention and intervention. Please see the Call for Applications, which includes the Grant Application Form, for further details.

Please note that applications must be received before 12:00 PM (MDT) Friday, June 29, 2012. For further information and, particularly, to discuss the suitability of your project/program ideas before developing an application, please contact:

Melanie Lukevich, Community Coordinator
Alberta Gang Reduction Strategy
Safe Communities and Strategic Policy
Justice and Attorney General

E-mail: melanie.lukevich2@gov.ab.ca
Tel: (780) 638-3878 or (780) 310-0000 (toll free)

Gang-related prevention programs funded through the Safe Communities Innovation Fund

2009-2010:

Building Bridges: Creating Resiliency
Edmonton Urban Games
Keeping Somali Youth out of Street Gangs and Drugs
Immigrant and Refugee Mentoring Programs
Integrated Approach to Schools and Hubs in Edmonton

2008-2009:

Chestermere Crime Reduction Partnership
Youth Inclusive Neighbourhoods
Gang Intervention and Diversion Program

See also:
Safe Communities Innovation Fund
The $60- million Safe Communities Innovation Fund (SCIF) is part of the government's response to reducing and preventing crime in Alberta.

Gang and drug-related resources and links