Mountie talks about gang issues in Saskatchewan

According to Zrymiak, while Saskatoon and Regina remain hot spots, gang activity is surging in northern and central Saskatchewan. He noted violent firearms offenses have increased by 43 per cent from 2017 to 2021, with most incidents happening in North District, where officers saw a 75 per cent rise.

He, who is also with the Warrant Enforcement and Suppression Team (WEST), emphasized that most gang-related homicides are “gang on gang” rather than random acts of violence.

Women in gangs: rising violence and leadership roles

Women are taking on more dominant and violent roles in Saskatchewan gangs, particularly in the Westside Outlaws.

“That’s the gang that, by far, I had the most experience in dealing with, and I could tell you that some of the girls in those gangs held some of the most prominent roles and were by far the most violent,” he said.

“They were so violent and if you go and just talk to them, you could have a conversation with them [and] the next day they ran from you. They beat the hell out of somebody, or who knows what else they’ve done,” he added.

Women in these gangs not only enforce discipline but also use fear to maintain control.

“If their subordinates didn’t listen to them, they’d be disciplined or potentially killed,” he said.

Gangs using social media, music videos to lure youth

Social media is now a key recruitment tool for gangs in Saskatchewan, a trend similar to what’s seen in larger cities like Toronto or in the U.S.

“It is a huge factor for street gangs. This is where the vast majority of their recruiting happens. These guys are proud. They show their guns, they show their money, they show their colors. Everything’s on social media,” he said.

Some gang members are also using music to glorify violence.

“They rap about their killings, they rap about the violence that they commit,” Zrymiak said.

Indigenous street gangs make up the majority

Indigenous street gangs account for the vast majority of gang members in Saskatchewan.

“We’re looking at probably 80 per cent to 83 per cent of the people that are identified as being involved in street gangs in Saskatchewan [as] Indigenous,” Zrymiak said.

These gangs often target vulnerable youth, some as young as eight years old.

“We saw kids as young as eight having some sort of gang involvement, going on missions,” he said. “I’ve actually seen pictures of newborns that have all their gang colors on them from their parents.”

Zrymiak stressed that early intervention is critical to breaking the cycle of gang violence.

“If we put our efforts and the majority of our funding into our youth, it’s going to have a trickle-down effect,” he said. “It’s not going to be a short-term solution… but we’re actually seeing the impact of the work that we’re doing today.”

Increase in firearms, organized crime infiltration

Police are seeing more firearms trafficked into Saskatchewan, some coming from the United States.

“Now we’re actually seeing firearms that are coming in from the U.S. and making their hands into gang members in Saskatchewan,” Zrymiak said, adding that most weapons were previously stolen locally.

A Restricted firearm seized from a gang in La Ronge. (slideshow/Tyler Zrymiak)

The surge in illegal firearms has changed policing in the province.

“If you’re not finding a gun in vehicles now, it’s a shock,” he said. “And so it’s completely polar opposite to what I dealt with when I first became a police officer, and it’s not that long ago.”

Organized crime groups from outside Saskatchewan, particularly gangs based in Toronto, are making inroads into the northern part of the province as their business is likely to flourish faster due to lower competition in small communities.

“They’re just like entrepreneurs. They want to go where the money is.”

Call for action: a multi-faceted approach

Zrymiak stressed that simply arresting gang members is not a long-term solution.

“If we only focus on enforcement now, we’re going to arrest a bunch of people. We’re going to have great stats. A week, two weeks, two months down the road, those same people are out. Those same factors are present for them, and we’re really no further ahead than we were when we first started making these arrests,” he said.

Instead, he urged investment in community-based solutions, such as safe spaces for at-risk youth.

“If there was one thing, a physical thing that I can push upon you guys, [it] is some sort of 24-hour location where kids can go… because when these kids have a bad day at home or wherever they’re staying, and it’s 2:30 in the morning, where do you think they’re going?” he asked.

“They’re going to go to that place where there’s people hanging out, and they’re going to become more exposed to the things that we don’t want them to be exposed to,” he said.

Ultimately, fighting gang violence requires a united effort.

“We need to show our youth that living the lives that we lead… should be more intriguing. It should be more enticing for them than living a life involved in street gangs,” he said.

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Kenneth.Cheung@pattisonmedia.com

by Kenneth Cheung

Mountie talks about gang issues in Saskatchewan

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