Outreach worker urges families connected to recent shootings to speak to police

A B.C. outreach worker is questioning why families members of people connected to the recent shootings in Surrey and Delta are not cooperating with police.

"By protecting your children, what exactly are you protecting them from?" said Kal Dosanjh, founder of Kids Play Cafe, an organization that keeps kids busy playing sports instead of getting involved in crime.  

"They continue to engage in these violent criminal acts which have a detrimental impact not only on the community, but essentially put everybody's life and safety and welfare at risk."

• Surrey RCMP investigating another shooting death
• Arun Bains was not a gang member, family says of Surrey homicide victim
• Gangs appeal to youth because of quick cash, adventure: expert

This week 22-year-old Arun Bains was shot and killed in Surrey. It's the latest in a cluster of 22 shootings that has ripped through neighbourhoods in Surrey and Delta since mid-March.

Dosanjh thinks many of the parents are overprotective and don't want their kids being brought in by law enforcement.

"It takes a village to raise a child ... but it also takes a village to protect this child," said Dosanjh. "They essentially surround the child and prevent any type of mishap happening to the child when it comes to the judicial system."

While Dosanjh doesn't expect things to change overnight, he says it is imperative that parents become more involved in their children's lives.

"Sit down with your kids. Try to establish rapport. Bridge a communication with these kids and say to them 'Hey look, if there's a problem you can come to me with it, you can trust me with it.'"

However Dosanjh isn't simply pointing the finger at parents. He says that there needs to be a concerted and unified effort that involves key stakeholders within the community.

"If you can intervene in the correct moment of their lives and you can detract them away from that lifestyle by introducing them to some positive and constructive outlets such as sports, it is statistically proven it can have a tremendous impact," said Dosanjh.

"Once they become anchored down in something positive, then they can continue on in that trajectory."

To hear the full interview, listen to the audio labelled Kal Dosanjh on a culture of silence