ABBOTSFORD, B.C.—The community of Abbotsford has shed the title of homicide capital of Canada, and police are crediting a provocative campaign against gangs as making the difference.

The Fraser Valley city of 137,000 went from recording 11 murders — most gang-related — in 2009 to none in 2011 after four deaths in 2010.

Based on the Statistics Canada figures for communities with a population of over 100,000, Abbotsford was on top on a per-capita basis in 2009.

Edmonton now has the dubious distinction as Canada’s murder capital, posting 47 slayings last year.

“What we were fortunate to have was the support of civic leaders and the citizens when we brought forward the message, which was we’ve got a problem with gangs,” said Const. Ian MacDonald.

Along with its prevention program that targeted schools, police formed a gang suppression unit to deal with gangs.

The message hit home for residents and police when two high school students turned up dead in 2009 after getting involved as “foot soldiers” with rival gangs.

“When you start seeing kids who are 17 and 18 years, just at the beginning points of their life and their adulthood and not necessarily knowing what they’re involved in getting taken out, that’s when everybody in our department and everybody in our community stood up and went, ‘This is different, we’ve got to do something.’”

The department spread its anti-gang message on drugs, guns and profit to parents and to middle and elementary schools and the public, with 25,000 people attending the presentation at dozens of forums — “anywhere that would take us,” MacDonald said.

Police also formed Business Watch so business owners could share information about shoplifters and who was buying their goods if gang activity was suspected.

And the department created its own version of Bar Watch, also used in other communities, so bar owners could work together to keep out gangsters.

MacDonald said the Abbotsford Police Department’s recipe for suppressing gang violence involved being honest with citizens when a dose of reality was the only solution to the seemingly endless death toll.

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“The citizens in any city have to be engaged and they have to be willing to contribute and be part of the solution or you don’t stand much of a chance.”

The Canadian Press

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