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Canwest News Service
Det.-Const. Lisa Byrne was celebrated by hundreds at a Vancouver Board of Trade luncheon Tuesday as the city's police officer of the year.
"It is very exciting," Byrne said after receiving the honour.
But today, the Vancouver Police Department gang specialist was expecting business as usual as she goes back to tackling the city's organized crime problem.
The nine-year veteran of the VPD comes from a family of police officers. Her dad is retired RCMP officer Al Byrne and two uncles were also cops.
She has been with the VPD's gang-crime unit since 2006 and most recently took on the task of file coordinator for the major undercover operation called Project Rebellion, which has dramatically cut gun violence across Vancouver.
So far, close to 200 charges have been laid against members of three south Vancouver gangs.
VPD Const. Jana McGuinness said Byrne was the direct link between Project Rebellion and the special prosecutions unit.
"The project culminated in the arrests of an entire crime family, the Sanghera Group that operated in south Vancouver," McGuinness said in a news release. "This crime group was responsible for many of the drive-by shootings that were occurring in the city in 2008. At this time, all members of the Sanghera Group are in jail awaiting trial and the number of drive-by shootings in the city has been significantly reduced in their absence."
Byrne said the most satisfying part of the anti-gang initiative was getting deadly firearms off the streets and making the city safer.
"So far Project Rebellion has been very successful," she said in an interview.
Byrne didn't think there is any novelty any more in a female officer working in the violent world of gangs and organized crime.
"It is the most challenging part of policing," she said.
Even before she embarked on the specialty, she said she was interested in the Hells Angels and their structure.
After being involved with successful investigations of both United Nations gangsters and Independent Soldiers, Byrne said she found "they are much more dynamic and violent" than the traditional biker gangs in B.C.
"Lisa is often contacted by Crown counsel to supply affidavits supporting the detention of gang members during bail and sentencing hearings," McGuinness said.
Byrne was loaned to the Combined Forces Special Enforcement Unit in 2007 to assist with the preparation of warrants in the E-Paragon investigation that led to a guilty plea and a 20-year sentence for international drug trafficker Yong Long Ye.
kbolan@vancouversun.com
Read Kim Bolan's blog, the Real scoop, at vancouversun.com/bolan
