One day this month, occupants of a car with flashing red and blue police lights started pulling over vehicles in Langley.
This wasn’t your average roadblock. Police allege the people inside the fake police car were participants in the Lower Mainland gang conflict.
Those being pulled over were rivals who had been marked for revenge.
Sgt. Brenda Winpenny, of the Combined Forces Special Enforcement Unit, said the disturbing incident wasn’t the only recent event in which those involved in the violence were posing as police officers to target enemies.
The fake traffic stops were reported to police and CFSEU’S uniformed gang enforcement team “very quickly — I think within 24 hours — located that vehicle, stopped it, arrested the people inside,” Winpenny said. “It’s still under investigation, but we’re anticipating some charges in relation to that.”
The car being used was not standard police issue, but the flashing lights appeared to work, as those being targeted were pulling over.
Winpenny said gangsters posing as police could create an even more volatile environment on Lower Mainland streets, on which 10 people have been shot dead so far this year.
“Obviously, it’s concerning for us because they not only put gang members or individuals involved in a gang lifestyle at tremendous amount of risk, it also puts police at a tremendous amount of risk to our safety,” Winpenny said.
Gangsters aware of the tactic may confuse real police for their rivals and that could lead to “an officer getting hurt,” she said.
There was a similar incident in Chilliwack last month.
At about 6:15 a.m. on Jan. 7, Mounties received a report of a carjacking near the Cultus Lake–Vedder Road roundabout.
Cpl. Mike Rail said the investigation showed that a motorist travelling in the area stopped for a vehicle displaying red and blue “wigwag lights” in the windshield.
“Three suspects then exited their vehicle and stole the motorist’s Hyundai Santa Fe at gunpoint with the motorist inside,” Rail said.
The carjackers later released the motorist near the Trans-Canada Highway in Chilliwack.
Rail said this week that investigators can’t say if the carjacking had anything to do with the gang conflict. “Fortunately, no one was injured,” he said.
No one has yet been arrested.
In Richmond on Jan. 29, a man showed up at a home and claimed to be an undercover cop and asked to see the homeowner’s son.
When the fake cop was told the son wasn’t there, he allegedly flashed a gun and drove off in a BMW.
On Friday, Gurmandeep Atwal, 26, was charged with personating a peace officer and carrying a weapon or prohibited device. He was remanded in custody until his next court appearance on Tuesday.
There have been other examples of criminals posing as law enforcement.
Two suspects charged with killing 78-year-old Usha Singh in her Cambie area home Jan. 31 posed as officers to gain entry to the house, according to Vancouver police. Pascal Bouthilette, 41, has been charged with second-degree murder and Sandy Parisian, 47, is charged with manslaughter.
Winpenny said there are precautions people can take if approached by someone purporting to be with the police.
“If someone’s presenting themselves to you at your home, you can ask for ID and phone the police in the jurisdiction that you live in and ask if there is a police officer at your home,” she said.
“And if you’re being pulled over, stop in a well lit area or an area where there are people around so you are doing what you can to ensure that you’re being extremely vigilant for your own personal safety.”
Rail pointed out that Mounties “are issued identification cards nationwide and are required to carry these cards as well as their badge.”
If a driver has concerns about an unmarked car with flashing lights, they can call 911 to confirm the officer’s identity and to request that a marked vehicle respond, Rail said.
