STREET GANGS: EVEN THE “OG” ARE WORRIED ABOUT THE SITUATION IN MONTREAL Published on April 20, 2023 at 2:53 p.m. Reporting :
Marie-Michelle Lauzon
David Romain has always been called Faya. That's what they call it on the streets of Montreal. At 44 years old, he has seen and experienced almost everything when it comes to crime. He is considered an OG , in street lingo: old or original gangster. And yet, what he observes among the new generation of street gang members worries him.
“They shoot everywhere, for anything,” says Faya. Personally, I don't respect them. I speak with a lot of OGs and none of us have any respect for the game today.”
Son of an absent father and victim of bullying at school, he began burglarizing chalets near Rivière-des-Prairies at 12 years old. He quickly became involved with blue street gangs – the Crips – which he frequented throughout his criminal career. The first time he held a gun in his hands, he was barely 13 years old.
David Romain alias Faya, in his youth.
As a teenager, bank robberies, mischief, drug possession, youth center, breach of conditions… At 18, he pleaded guilty to a charge of carrying a concealed firearm.
For 27 years, his life was punctuated by incarcerations and his criminal offenses: possession of firearms, criminal harassment, serious assault, pimping, arson... He was even accused in 2010 in a story where an SPVM double agent was violently beaten.
Despite a past marked by violent acts, he describes himself as a “good bandit”.
“In the old days, it was our beef , our business,” says Faya. We weren’t shooting innocent people.”
The data seems to support his claims. In the 2000s, a time when street gang violence reached its peak in Montreal, it nevertheless caused few collateral victims. In 2007, for example, all the victims of the 14 homicides and 54 attempted murders in Montreal were involved in criminal activities linked to street gangs, according to the Montreal Police Service (SPVM). And barely 7% of these crimes were committed in public places.
“A good bandit does his business and doesn’t kill innocent people.” - David Romain, aka Faya
The former street gang member denounces the current trend in scoring, the act of shooting targeted victims at random to “score points”.
“Today, it’s their fashion: go to such and such a neighborhood, shoot someone,” describes Faya. You're not tough at all if you do that."
A point of view shared by Commander Francis Renaud, head of the Northeast organized crime section within the SPVM. He believes that the targeting of innocent victims is the “most worrying” phenomenon currently for the police force.
The proliferation of firearms among young people and the “brand new battlefield” that is social networks are creating an explosive climate in the streets of Montreal. From January 1 to March 26, the SPVM recorded 25 firearm discharge events and seized 135 firearms.
“There is a trivialization of firearms and violence,” Mr. Renaud assessed in an interview with the Noovo Le Fil 17 newsletter on Wednesday. Our young people are insensitive to this violence.”
Faya is also concerned about seeing more and more teenagers – younger and younger – owning a firearm.
“All the young people are armed, and are wild out , are ready there. It's crazy."" - Faya If Faya agreed to confide in Noovo Info, it is because he feels partly responsible for what is currently happening in Montreal. “Every day I say to myself: 'Had I known, I would never have done that.'”
Today, the ex-gangster has a lot to say to the young people of his city. He says his years in detention taught him a lot. He admits to having caused a lot of harm to a lot of people. His past will always follow him, but he aspires to a better future, far from the streets, he swears.
“As I tell young people, there are other things to do than shoot each other. There are a lot of them who are intelligent too, a lot!”
He is saddened to see young men “wasting their talent” by falling into crime.
“I’ve been happy in my life for two, three years. Stay away from problems, you breathe better, you live better.”
“That’s life, not being 15 and walking around with a glock. It's crazy, you're 14, 15 years old and you have to watch your back. Think about yourself, your school, your career, your future,” he advises teenagers tempted by the life he led.
