There was a fairly routine development in the ongoing gang warfare story in Metro Vancouver: the laying of attempted-murder charges this week against two men who allegedly went on a shooting spree in Richmond last summer.
Two gangsters shot up another. One of those charged is already in jail, the other is out of the country, long gone.
But it was deemed worthy of an official statement from B.C. Public Safety Minister Mike Morris, now in his fourth week on the job.
It was about how apprehending armed gangsters is a priority and he was pleased to see “significant headway” by the police task force.
He said “gangs are feeling the pressure” and police have “destabilized the groups involved in targeted shootings ... and considerably reduced their drug-trafficking operations.”
“Targeted shootings, the low-level drug trade and the conflicts surrounding it continue to be extremely concerning to our government,” he said, promising police will be relentless.
Much of the statement is debatable. Are two charges really significant headway? Are gangs feeling any pressure? Has drug-trafficking been reduced, given the fentanyl death toll?
What’s closer to the mark is the part about the government being concerned. Gang warfare is so chronic that a perception was developing that the B.C. Liberals were indifferent to it.
Which contributed to Justice Minister Suzanne Anton’s portfolio being split in two, and the police chunk being handed to a tough-talking ex-cop.
Anton was not up to the job of portraying the police as relentless crusaders against street thugs. Partly because she was constrained by responsibility for the justice system and always leaves the impression she has to be careful in what she says. Responsibility for the presumption of innocence doesn’t go well with calling out gangsters.
So the two tasks were divided, and Morris is the new face of crime-busting.
“I have a little bit more leeway in what I can say,” he said Tuesday.
The day after he was appointed last month, he toured provincial RCMP headquarters and said things were “well in hand” when it came to fighting “low-life cowards.”
That progress report is just as debatable. But it’s the tough talk that’s more important at this point.
Morris did 32 years with the RCMP, finishing as the superintendent responsible for northern B.C., two-thirds of the province.
He has visited so many police stations lately it feels as if he’s back on the force, he said.
Morris won the Prince George-Mackenzie seat in 2013 and did a variety of odd jobs as a backbench MLA.
He wrote a wildlife report last year for the forest and lands ministry, but it was more or less ignored. He said there are no hard feelings.
He chaired a committee that reviewed the Independent Investigations Office, which probes serious incidents involving police. The five-year-old office has had numerous serious problems in converting to full civilian oversight, but the committee gave it a year to fix the issues and recommends relaxing the timetable to purge all ex-cops from the office.
Morris has a remarkable personal history that informed his approach to policing. He grew up in a very abusive home, and his parents split in his early teens. Physical violence was a routine part of life in the circles in which he moved, he said.
“I didn’t know I lived in an abusive home until I got out into the wide world and saw how other people lived,” he told the legislature two years ago in a revealing personal statement.
He said he spent much of his teens living with various relatives and older siblings — much of that time spent on social assistance.
He said he drew a lot on his personal experiences in his approach to policing during his career with the RCMP.
That kind of grim start isn’t usually a recipe for success, but Morris said his life pivoted when the owner of a motel where he and his mother were living took an interest in him and started helping.
Continued success in his policing career depends on how he tackles the immediate problem.
Talking tough is only the first part of his new job. Following up on it is where the real difference could be made.
