With 40 separate shootings in the Metro Vancouver region since late January resulting in over a dozen deaths, police say they are now taking concrete measures to combat crime.
Massive concrete barricades are being set up on streets in front of the homes of well-known gangsters with the hopes of deterring drive-by shootings.
One barricade has been constructed on the road in front a house on East 54th Avenue where police say 23-year-old Gurpreet Singh Bains lives.
Bains was supposedly the target of two drive-by shootings at this house back in September 2007 and November 2008.
While it is uncertain how successful the barricades will be, they have certainly caught the attention of Bains' neighbours.
"I'm not sure they're really effective. I think that if someone is really intent on shooting someone else, I don't think a couple of concrete barricades are going to do any good," said Joel Gerard, who lives nearby.
A few blocks away, on East 63rd Avenue, there is another set of cement blocks at the home of a man who has been accused by police as being the head of crime group at war with another gang.
Fifty-eight-year-old Udham Singh Sanghera is currently behind bars, having been recently denied bail on numerous weapons charges.
And while the barricades may prevent drive-by shootings, they also limit parking -- forcing surprised drivers to jump the curb and leaving neighbours wondering "who" is really being protected here.
"I felt pretty safe when I moved into this area five years ago, this is no longer the case with all of the shootings going on here, no I don't feel safe -- I no longer feel safe here," said Sanghera's neighbour Riad Klassen.
With a report by CTV British Columbia's Reshmi Nair.
