Surrey RCMP have once again been caught napping with the city recording its 25th murder of 2013 and the cops having no clue about who did it. 53-year-old hockey mom Julie Paskall was savagely beaten in the parking lot of the Newton Rec Centre’s hockey arena and later she died in hospital.
Paskall was waiting to pick up her son outside the arena when she was attacked around 9.30 pm on Sunday. She died in hospital on Tuesday. What has really shocked the community is the fact that drug deals, prostitution, robberies and murders happen in the Newton area right under the very nose of the RCMP office where the latest incident occurred.
What people are asking is has the RCMP been reduced to merely issuing tickets for traffic violations. What about their duties. Or do they have any other at all.
People concerned about violence and crime in Surrey now want something done.
The Newton Community Association is holding a public meeting on Monday (Jan 6) at 7 pm where they have urged people to attend this meeting at the Newton Community Centre. The group issued a press release Monday, in which they said that politicians from any level of government will not attend this meeting.
“In order to ensure the committee meeting being held this evening stays positively focused on hearing Newton residents and discussing solutions, the Newton Community Association is respectfully asking all local politicians to please refrain from attending,” the release stated. However, a public forum in February will be open to politicians, the group says.
“Fearful, furious and frustrated” is how some people in Newton describe themselves, after the fatal attack on a mother outside a local arena over the weekend.
They want action from the City to increase safety in their neighbourhood. People from all over Surrey are concerned about crime and violence.
“There’s a lot more crime; it’s scary walking at night,” says one woman. “I don’t know what else can be done.”
The Newton Community Association meets Monday at 7 p.m. at the Newton Seniors Centre; it says say everyone is welcome. They will be demanding answers from the City.
Paskall was severely beaten with what investigators believe may have been a rock and police continue to treat it as robbery attempt.
Police say they will set up a command post at the same arena in Surrey where Paskall was fatally attacked.
The command post will be parked at the Newton Arena Thursday and Friday, and police say officers will also canvass the local community looking for tips into the death of Julie Paskall.
Police say on Saturday auxiliary RCMP officers will put up posters around the community, asking for the public’s help.
Police believe the attack is similar to another in the same area on Dec. 16.
Harry Bains who represents the riding of Surrey-Newton says he and two other provincial politicians (Sue Hammell & Bruce Ralston) met with the city’s top police officer to discuss the death.
Bains, the MLA for Surrey-Newton, said his constituents have told him they don’t feel safe walking in the neighbourhood, riding the bus, or using public recreational facilities.
Surrey’s high homicide rate is disturbing enough, but when “a woman just doing her own routine work — being a mom — gets beaten and has now passed away, it raises the alarm to the next level,” said Bains.
The meeting with Surrey’s top cop was “positive,” but “I don’t think we’re there yet,” he said.
“I think police feel frustrated they may not have the resources to deal with all the issues in the growing community.”
Bains also suggested the provincial government might be able to offer more support, specifically in areas of mental health, drug addiction, and the justice system.
The death of Julie Paskall was Surrey’s 25th homicide of 2013.
Whalley and Newton had been tied with eight cases each but the hockey mom’s death on New Year’s Eve from the brutal and unprovoked beating earned Newton the dubious distinction of having the most homicides out of all neighbourhoods in Surrey.
