Minimor
Well-Known Member
I moved to the Brandon area 21 years ago. At that time, and for years & years since, it was said that Brandon was a city that acted like a small town. And it was. Quiet, safe, low crime rate. It was pretty much safe to walk after dark, even downtown, and even for a woman alone.
Not any more. What's happened to change it? A gang. There were some incidents where young people--teens--were assaulted by other teens--often young teens--basically kids were getting mugged for their brand name jackets, caps, whatever. We started hearing about a new gang that called itself the Indian Posse. About a year ago some city official--police spokesman I think--was on the radio talking about the Indian Posse. He said this gang posed no real threat to the residents of the city (some reassurance to the non-gang kids that got assaulted and robbed by members of this gang!!)--that mostly they were young offenders that got affiliated with the gang while in jail, and they were just a loosely organized group more into mischief than any serious crime. One member that was in court--I don't remember what the charge was--was ordered by the judge to leave town, and not return. The young fellow was driven outside city limits & dropped off & told to go on his way--that was sort of the standard policy for dealing with these young gang members.
Several weeks ago a woman was attacked and stabbed 13 times--she wasn't walking late at night or in a bad part of town--she survived the attack & the authorities later released the information that her stabbing was gang related--an initiation for a new Indian Posse member. Pretty scary, but now it gets worse. Two nights ago someone called 9-1-1 & said they heard a woman screaming. A second 9-1-1 call requested an ambulance; police found an 18 year old woman with head trauma--she was conscious but severely injured. She was stabilized at the local hospital then airlifted to Winnipeg. Now the police have issued a warning to women in the city--I didn't hear this, but the girls I work with were talking about it this afternoon. The current initiation for the Indian Posse is to rape a woman then beat her to the point where she is unrecognizeable. That's what the case was with the 18 year old 2 nights ago.
These gang members aren't hard to find; they're out and about at night, all night. One of my co-workers said she's seen them on her way to work early in the morning. 3 of them crossed the street in front of my vehicle a block from the office this morning. Groups of youths in sweats & hoodies....can't say for sure they're all gang members, but it's wise to avoid even small groups that have "the look". Some are 100% for sure, no mistaking them at all.
There's other crime too, not all of it gang related. There have been other stabbings, shootings, assaults, robberies on the street in broad daylight--things that just never happened here 20 years ago, even 10 years ago. Kind of never thought it would come to our "town"...or at least we always hoped it wouldn't!
Not any more. What's happened to change it? A gang. There were some incidents where young people--teens--were assaulted by other teens--often young teens--basically kids were getting mugged for their brand name jackets, caps, whatever. We started hearing about a new gang that called itself the Indian Posse. About a year ago some city official--police spokesman I think--was on the radio talking about the Indian Posse. He said this gang posed no real threat to the residents of the city (some reassurance to the non-gang kids that got assaulted and robbed by members of this gang!!)--that mostly they were young offenders that got affiliated with the gang while in jail, and they were just a loosely organized group more into mischief than any serious crime. One member that was in court--I don't remember what the charge was--was ordered by the judge to leave town, and not return. The young fellow was driven outside city limits & dropped off & told to go on his way--that was sort of the standard policy for dealing with these young gang members.
Several weeks ago a woman was attacked and stabbed 13 times--she wasn't walking late at night or in a bad part of town--she survived the attack & the authorities later released the information that her stabbing was gang related--an initiation for a new Indian Posse member. Pretty scary, but now it gets worse. Two nights ago someone called 9-1-1 & said they heard a woman screaming. A second 9-1-1 call requested an ambulance; police found an 18 year old woman with head trauma--she was conscious but severely injured. She was stabilized at the local hospital then airlifted to Winnipeg. Now the police have issued a warning to women in the city--I didn't hear this, but the girls I work with were talking about it this afternoon. The current initiation for the Indian Posse is to rape a woman then beat her to the point where she is unrecognizeable. That's what the case was with the 18 year old 2 nights ago.
These gang members aren't hard to find; they're out and about at night, all night. One of my co-workers said she's seen them on her way to work early in the morning. 3 of them crossed the street in front of my vehicle a block from the office this morning. Groups of youths in sweats & hoodies....can't say for sure they're all gang members, but it's wise to avoid even small groups that have "the look". Some are 100% for sure, no mistaking them at all.
There's other crime too, not all of it gang related. There have been other stabbings, shootings, assaults, robberies on the street in broad daylight--things that just never happened here 20 years ago, even 10 years ago. Kind of never thought it would come to our "town"...or at least we always hoped it wouldn't!
