Winnipeg's gangs: Splintered, chaotic and prone to violence

Gangs are nothing new to Winnipeg, and the experts don't think there are any more gang members now, than in recent years.

But as the city creeps closer to tying its own infamous record for homicides in a calendar year, some are pointing to a change in gang culture playing a significant role in that violence.

"It'salmost a little more chaotic these days than it was back in the day," Mitch Bourbonniere, a community outreach worker, says of the gang underbelly of Winnipeg.

Gang members in Winnipeg are striking out on their own into smaller factions, without regard for established hierarchies.

"If I had to saythere's a slight change, it would be the people," said Bourbonniere. "It doesn't seem like people are as organized and loyal and it seems like thestructure is lacking."

The violence perpetrated bysplintered gangs is one factor behind a mounting homicide tally that is approaching the record set in 2011, of 41 killings in a single year. The city has recorded 40homicides in 2019 as of Tuesday.

In addition to the worrying rise in homicides, Winnipeg has experienced a spike in property crimes and violence fuelled by amethamphetamine crisis.

Splinter groups harder to track

The Winnipeg Police Service has no doubt some of the blame for the violencefalls squarely ongangsters.

"It's a significant portion of the violence we are seeing," Insp.Max Waddellof theorganized crime unit said. "It'sover turf wars, it's over disputes, it'srandom acts of violence that are committed to allow entry into a gang.

"It's a combination of all the types of crimes that the gang members become involved inthat we're seeing the result of today."

Gangs like Indian Posse, Manitoba Warriors, Native Syndicate and Mad Cowzremain entrenched in the city, whileother cellssuch asBloods and Triple M are big players as well, Waddell said.

He estimates there are 1,500 full gang members in the city and 2,500 associates. Waddell said the total number of gangsters has stayed roughly the same over the years.

He reasoned that some of Winnipeg'sgangs split into smaller cells to avoid detection.

"Theyhave understood from [court]disclosure that if they can split, they can conquer by many," Waddell said.

These days, gang members are more prone to violent outbursts, he said.Fights once waged over fisticuffs are sometimes settled overfirearms.

Thesmaller cellsare harder to track, he said. They don't usuallywear the same colours or symbols tostand out.

Waddell said some gangs have eaten themselves from within through infighting, which forces a split.

"It's moredifficult from a policing perspective because we now have to track more unorganized and more groups that don't have structure and identifiers to them," Waddell said.

Winnipeg police decided earlier this year to launch a dedicated guns and gangs unit to combat growing violence.

Poverty a major factor in gang recruitment

While a lot has changed, Bourbonnieresaid the status and financial reward of gang membership is still seductive to people, often living in poorer areas, with nowhereto turn. He said the kinship is appealingwhen family is already ingrained in the lifestyle.

And there will always be people willing to replace those who have left.

"Ifsome of the more organized people are being held accountable, it still leaves the field wide openfor other folks to come in," he said.

Kathleen Buddle, a University of Manitoba associate professor of cultural anthropology, has studied gangs in Winnipeg for around 15 years.

Nowadays, she says, there's a lot of people with a"floating membership" who only participate incertain tasks, rather than every one.

There's constant turnover among young people who are placed inprecarious roles within the criminal organization because they're expendable, Buddle said.

"They often will be doing the dirty work for the more high-ranking members," she said.

She is reluctant to describe the issue of "gang violence" using those terms, because it dismissesthe underlying causes that actually cause someone to join.

"To call it specifically gang violence, I'm not sure how productive that is," Buddlesaid."I thinksometimes when we call something gang violence, itallows us to blame the victim."

"It just allows us to sweep it under the rug and not take any responsibility as a community for the violence that's happening."

It istrue that Winnipeg has a number of Indigenous and newcomer gangs, she said,butrace is a poorindicator of gang involvement. She said poverty, homelessness and mental health issues are more relevant.

She said people join gangs because of the sense of belonging it provides. For some members, it's the only family they have.

"It'snot so much againa conscious choice to become a criminal, as it is a conscious choice to want to remain involved with one's family."