Increased extortion violence targeting south-Asian community subject of Calgary town hall

Calgarians gathered to hear from police in Martindale Thursday as incidents of extortion-related violence toward the city’s south-Asian community surges.

Since July of last year, police say 13 reports have be made about such crimes, and it’s likely there could be more.

The event was billed as a community safety and awareness meeting to speak to residents and business owners who are on edge.

The latest in this string of incidents happened late last month, when a home in the northeast community of Redstone was riddled with bullets. Nobody was home at the time and no one was injured

Investigators later said the incident was targeted.

Just days before, a home in the community of Taradale was also shot at. No one was hurt in that incident.

On hand at Thursday’s town hall was Deputy Chief Asif Rashid, who says this type of crime is the police force’s number one priority.

“It’s our job to reassure the community that we’re taking each an every complaint seriously and working with our partners to bring closure and reassurance to the victims and complainants on these files,” he said.

The community is under the purview of Ward 5 Coun. Raj Dahliwal, who says the Calgary Police Service continues to work with other policing partners as part of a broader Western Canada Chiefs initiative to address these extortion networks.

“I can’t quite disclose those details and we’re still gathering that evidence to prove all levels that are involved with this crime,” said Staff Sgt. Ryan Smarts with Alberta Law Enforcement Response Teams (ALERT).

Karen Wilmont, the assistant director of intelligence and enforcement operations with the Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) says officials at the federal level are also paying attention.

“We will take efforts to investigate those individuals, follow our processes to report and to remove them when it’s appropriate to do so,” she said.

Rashid adds that the combined forces are there to support the south-Asian community.

“Each and every tip that CrimeStoppers receives will be followed up by the law enforcement partners who are here today,” he said.