The new NDP government has to provide $500,000 for SurreyB次元官网网址檚 Wraparound anti-gang program.
The funding was part of the partyB次元官网网址檚 commitment along the campaign trail in an effort to reduce gang violence.
There are currently 97 students in the Wrap program, which was launched in 2009, with another 35 students awaiting entry.
ItB次元官网网址檚 said the new funding will eliminate the backlog of the youth program, which involves police working with the school district to identify and intervene with children ages 11 to 17 at risk of joining gangs.
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B次元官网网址淲rap is a successful program that identifies at-risk youth to help keep them out of gangs in the first place. It should have stable and secure funding, not waitlists,B次元官网网址� Minister of Public Safety Mike Farnworth said in a release.
B次元官网网址淧eople want to feel safe where they live and know their child wonB次元官网网址檛 be lost to the dead-end path of gang life,B次元官网网址� he added. B次元官网网址淚tB次元官网网址檚 time to target gang violence in our neighbourhoods head-on. TodayB次元官网网址檚 announcement is a step in the right direction.B次元官网网址�
The government says evaluation of the Wrap program B次元官网网址� which involves counselling, mentoring, recreational activities, mental health support and more B次元官网网址� has shown a 67 per cent decline in the negative police contacts of participants.
In March, when Premier John Horgan was campaigning and promised this funding, then Liberal MLA Amrik Virk said itB次元官网网址檚 B次元官网网址渁ppropriate for the public to get a fulsome picture.B次元官网网址�
The Wraparound program, he said, helped more than 500 students under his governmentB次元官网网址檚 watch. He accused Horgan of pulling B次元官网网址渘umbers out of the air, pre-emptive of grants that are imminentB次元官网网址� from the Liberal government.
B次元官网网址淢imicry is the best form of flattery,B次元官网网址� Virk said at the time.
Virk said his government has spent $64 million annually on a B次元官网网址渇ull suiteB次元官网网址� of anti-gang enforcement in B.C., featuring the Gang Exit Program and End Gang Life Program, which he said has to date reached 20,000 students.
Virk expressed pride that Wraparound is funded through the proceeds of property seized from gangsters.
B.C. has provided $535,000 to the Surrey Wrap program since 2009, mostly through civil forfeiture grants.
The Surrey Wrap project has received the bulk of its support from Public Safety CanadaB次元官网网址檚 National Crime Prevention Strategy: $880,000 between 2008 and 2011, $500,000 from 2011 to 2013 and $3.5 million from 2015 to 2020.
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Meantime, the provincial government says it is also taking action on gun and gang violence by working in partnership to implement the Surrey Accord, reviewing recommendations from the Illegal Firearms Task Force, seeking to B次元官网网址渇urther supportB次元官网网址� police efforts to disrupt the illegal drug chain and pushing the federal government for increased penalties for dealers.
The NDP government also vows to push the federal government to bolster B.C.B次元官网网址檚 federal RCMP complement, and pursue the provinceB次元官网网址檚 share of the $100 million in funding the federal government announced as part of its plan to help with guns and gangs.
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