Vancouver's police department spent almost half its Criminal Investigation Fund fighting gang violence in the first few months of this year.
In a report going to Vancouver City council tomorrow, Chief Const. Jim Chu says the unprecedented level of gang violence and the need to respond means the fund will be significantly over budget by the end of the year.
Chu says their plan to target the most violent gang members is working and police have even stopped suspects who were in "hunting mode," where gang members were arrested armed and wearing bullet-proof vests.
Chu says Project Rebellion has resulted in over 120 charges approved or pending against 38 people.
The chief says because the project requires maximum staffing levels, overtime and emergency response teams for high-risk arrests, the $2 million budget was drained by half near the beginning of March.
There have been 40 shootings in the past few months in the Metro Vancouver area, 17 of them were fatal.
