Community program officer Alex Turcotte has been leading the End Gang Life presentations. (Derek Cornet/larongeNOW Staff)

By Derek Cornet

GANG Prevention

‘A meaningful and worry-free life’: RCMP present End Gang Life project

Mar 5, 2019 | 5:01 PM

With the End Gang Life pilot project concluding soon, La Ronge RCMP community program officer Alex Turcotte wants students to know anyone is susceptible to joining a gang and there is a way out.

In recent weeks, Turcotte has been visiting schools to speak with middle-years students as part of the pilot project. Through video modules, group discussions and question and answer sessions with local police officers, she hopes students understand the warning signs of gang activity, how to stay safe and what to do if someone tries recruiting them into a gang. With the understanding no photos would be taken and the location of the presentation wouldn’t be revealed, larongeNOW was invited to listen in on one of the sessions.

“Sometimes you might be met with a situation where someone comes up to you and says you don’t have a choice [to join a gang],” Turcotte told students. “Sometimes that might be a reality, and it will be harder to get away from gang life if you do have a family member or someone who lives with you that is in a gang. If that happens, you have to remember to keep yourself safe first, get to a safe location and then tell a trusted adult or the police if you are comfortable.”

Prior to the presentation, students had already covered several modules covering aspects such as money, love-bombing, friends in gangs, gang protection and consequences. The series of End Gang Life videos can be found on YouTube with the final module being about the myths and realities of joining criminal groups. Turcotte also told students it doesn’t matter what income level, background, ethnicity or experience people have in life, because everyone is susceptible to joining a gang.

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When people are living a healthy lifestyle, she said they don’t have to worry about someone watching them and can do productive activities like attend university. She also noted students need to take preventative measures to contribute to personal safety like avoiding dark paths and places where there are no people, taking shortcuts, wearing gang colours and the importance of letting someone know where they are going and when they’ll be back. Turcotte added, if someone tries recruit them into a gang, to use words and not violence to deal with the situation then go somewhere safe.

“Even if you were in a gang and you exit, you will can still have a meaningful and worry-free life,” she said. “It doesn’t matter where you come from, but it’s how you deal with the pressures and the situations that present themselves to you.”

If found to be successful, the End Gang Life project could be expanded provincially.

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derek.cornet@jpbg.ca

Twitter: @saskjourno