Calling a “gang war” a “dispute over turf,” or vice-versa, does not make a fired bullet any less dangerous.
Nor does a gun care who pulls its trigger, be it a “low-level” drug dealer or a big-time gangster.
SEE MORE: Update: Arrests made in what Surrey's top cop calls a 'dispute over turf'
The damage done is no different.
Efforts to minimize the criminal stature, or street “cred,” of a shooter will not provide any comfort to intelligent residents who are rightfully concerned about the drive-by shootings that have become a regular occurrence in this city.
People want results, and the Surrey RCMP should be lauded for producing some with the arrests of five men and a minor last Friday related to the shooting conflict, however one might characterize it. Police maintain that these arrests prevented yet another drive-by shooting on Surrey’s streets.
It’s not the police, however, but the judiciary, who will decide when these suspects will be released back into the community.
The ball, so to speak, really is in the judges’ court and Surrey residents want significant punishment to be meted out to those who deserve it. Surrey’s mayor herself says she has yet to see that happen.
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