40 member provincial task force to fight extortion crisis in B.C., 6 extortion related arrests made so far

The B.C. government has announced a provincial extortion task force to investigate the extortion-related files that have become a concern for many areas of the province. The task force will be led by the B.C. RCMP and will consist of a total of 40 members.

In addition to the RCMP, this force will include members from the Surrey Police Service, Delta Police Department, Abbotsford Police Department and Metro Vancouver Transit Police.

In addition, members of the Canada Border Services Agency and the Combined Forces Special Enforcement Unit and members of the BC Anti-Gang Police Team will also be part of this force. The announcement was made by the province's Public Safety Minister Nina Krieger in the presence of the heads of various police departments.

The Minister of Public Safety said that this new force will help in working with greater coordination in cross-jurisdictional investigations.

During a Q&A with police chiefs and the Minister of Public Safety, BC RCMP Assistant Commissioner John Brewer said that actions such as search warrants are being taken in these cases, but did not provide an exact number of how many total cases of extortion are being investigated in the province.

He did not share any concrete figures, to which Connect FM asked “SPS is investigating 44 extortion related files in which 27 are shooting related and there have been no arrests made so far, so can the BC RCMP at-least share the number of arrests made so far related to these extortion cases.” On this, the Assistant Commissioner John Brewer said, “some arrests have been made and some have been released as the information has to be provided to the crown to get the charges approved, on top of my head I can say we have made at-least 6 arrests related to the extortion cases.”

Connect FM asked a question to the Public Safety minister based on a conversation with a business owner after the shooting at the York Business Center a few week ago, where the business owner told Connect FM “the business owners are concerned that the people who carried out these incidents will now target business owners and not businesses to spread the fear.” The Minister of Public Safety said, “the police agencies are being provided with every necessary tool and that people should have faith in the police.”

Here's the link to the Press Conference:
https://www.youtube.com/live/e...