Province funds organizations to implement anti-gang strategy

Organizations in Regina and Saskatoon have been tasked with helping people get out of gangs in Saskatchewan.

On Tuesday, the provincial Ministry of Corrections and Policing announced it’s investing $4.5 million over the next four years in its Gang Violence Reduction Strategy.

Regina Treaty Status Indian Services Inc. (RT/SIS) and Saskatoon’s STR8 Up are to implement the Community Intervention Model (CIM) in the province.

According to a media release, the organizations “will provide outreach, intervention and prevention services to help people leave gangs, and reintegrate back into their communities.”

“We believe the Community Intervention Model will help reduce gang crime in communities,” Corrections and Policing Minister Christine Tell said in the release.

“It will help clients reduce contact with the justice system and promote a connection to employment, educational or training opportunities, which helps them build positive life skills.”

RT/SIS is to cover the southern portion of the province, with STR8 Up to offer services in the central and northern regions.

“When people are given appropriate opportunity, they can make true change, for themselves and their family,” RT/SIS executive director Erica Beaudin said in the release. “The result is less crime and increased safety in our homes and communities which benefits all of us.

“We thank the Government of Saskatchewan for supporting our model of transformation which brings people beyond survival responses of poverty and violence.”

“STR8 UP is committed to helping gang members exit gang life,” STR8 UP founders Father Andre Poilièvre and Stan Tu’Inukuafe added. “This funding allows STR8 UP and its recovering members to work intensively with identified participants.”

The province’s Gang Violence Reduction Strategy also includes: Expanding the Dedicated Substance Abuse Treatment Units into additional correctional facilities; reallocating provincially funded police units to Crime Reduction Teams in Regina, Saskatoon and Prince Albert; and, improving intelligence gathering and sharing between police agencies.