Article about "how B.C.'s middle-class gangs are unlike any other in North America"

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"The unusual suspects: How B.C.'s middle-class gangs are unlike any other in North America"

Many gangsters driven by desire to belong, to be protected or to emulate gang lifestyle, say police, experts

At the end of a tranquil cul-de-sac in a pleasant neighbourhood, a tall stucco house overlooks a well-kept lawn and lush flower beds.

The home is in the Metro Vancouver city of Surrey, where the average price of a detached property is $1.1 million.

Before an officer from the RCMP's gang enforcement unit knocks on the door to conduct a curfew check, he notes that the alleged gang boss didn't purchase the home with drug profits. This is his family's house, where he grew up and still lives in his mid-20s.

"Gangs in Chicago and other U.S. cities, they're usually geographically based. They keep a watch of the block, or they're a bunch of new immigrants to a country. It becomes a unity thing, like survival. These kids don't have that issue,'' Const. Ryan Schwerdfeger says.

"Some may be new immigrants to Canada, but their parents sold property back home and they live in $1 million-plus homes and their parents buy them whatever car they want.''

Families gather in Abbotsford to warn others of gang violence
Police officers say the gang conflict in British Columbia's Lower Mainland is unlike any other in North America.

Many young members come from middle- to upper-class homes. They aren't driven by poverty, but instead by their desire to belong, to be protected or to emulate the gangster lifestyle flashed by other teens on social media. Some become trapped in gangs once they join, while others just meet the wrong friends and find themselves caught in the crosshairs.

Police are struggling to contain the deadly gunfire, and families are left broken and confused.

In fact, the situation is so different in B.C. that some say many of the groups toting guns and dealing drugs are not really "gangs'' at all. But to end the violence, experts say, it must be understood why kids are jumping into the fray — and why it's so hard for them to leave.

Link: https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/briti...rrey-1.5259790