City police get $600,000 from province to fight gangs

An increase in provincial funding will help Thunder Bay curb gang activity, says the city’s police chief.

Thunder Bay Police Services chief Bob Herman, also president of the Ontario Association of Chiefs of Police, was in Toronto Thursday when the province announced a 41 per cent funding increase for its Provincial Anti-Violence Intervention Strategy.

The strategy, based on a similar Toronto initiative funds 17 municipalities to help Ontairo cities with gang prevention.

Herman said the increase means Thunder Bay will receive $600,000 over two years for enforcement and education in Thunder Bay from the $15 million provincial initiative.
Withou the strategy, in place since 2007, Herman said Thunder Bay might have gang problems similar to major urban centres because of budget constraints.

"Sometimes we just can’t get to it because we just don’t have the resources or the dollars to do it," Herman said.