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B.C.’s top gangs are operating in Kelowna: RCMP

‘We have all of the major gangs in Kelowna,’ said Supt. Kara Triance
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Several RCMP cruisers stationed out front of Kelowna’s Global Fitness following a shooting on the morning of Monday, March 29. The shooting was later revealed to be gang-related. (Michael Rodriguez/Capital News)

The B.C. gangs involved in several Lower Mainland conflicts are also operating in the Central Okanagan, according to Kelowna’s top cop.

“We have all of the major gangs in Kelowna,” Supt. Kara Triance, the officer in charge of the Kelowna RCMP, told city council during a Monday (May 17) report.

Triance spoke of the violent crime Kelowna saw in the first few months of the year, specifically noting the targeted shooting of Kyle Gianis in broad daylight in March outside Global Fitness.

“We are working hard to suppress this work as we focus on those who are benefiting from the economic sales of drugs,” Triance said.

With that focus comes a new initiative the Kelowna RCMP has lifted from its Surrey counterpart: the inadmissible patrons program (IPP) headed by former Surrey Mountie Insp. Beth McAndie.

The program is designed to prevent violent criminal activity at bars and clubs.

In Surrey, the IPP authorizes Mounties to act on behalf of establishments to identify and remove people affiliated with organized crime from the premises. The program only applies to restaurants that choose to sign up for it.

“We are actively engaged with liquor control licensing facilities as well as the hotels and that work allows us to really focus on those who are committing the most violent crimes in our communities,” Triance said.

The Kelowna RCMP hopes to roll out the program by the summer.

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Do you have something to add to this story, or something else we should report on? Email: michael.rodriguez@kelownacapnews.com


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