CONGRATULATIONS, Surrey Mayor Diane Watts for your parting gift just before the November election of 47 new RCMP officers for the Surrey detachment.
Or is it some compensation for the horrible crime situation that you have left behind with the poor Mounties scrambling to contain the damage of the past years?
Watts and members of the City’s Police Committee on Tuesday endorsed a recommendation to add another 47 new RCMP officers, noting that this was in addition to the 95 RCMP officers and 20 Community Safety Patrol personnel that were approved in April. The additional officers will complement the tiered policing model that has been adopted in Surrey which consists of:
* 815 – RCMP officers
* 260 – Support staff (crime analysts etc.)
* 100 – Auxiliary constables
* 20 – Community policing foot patrols
* Almost 1,200 people supporting policing in Surrey
“Public Safety remains my top priority and the step taken today to increase the ranks of our RCMP officers sends a strong message of my commitment to effect a long term and permanent change in crime reduction in Surrey,” said Watts.
But what credibility does Watts have?
The lame excuse for this belated action was that “the call for additional officers is backed up by the results of two independent research projects which examined the service delivery model and how to deploy additional resources for maximum proactive coverage in a growing city like Surrey.”
But why so late?
“I firmly believe in the importance of making evidence-based decisions for policing in Surrey. The two research reports that have been shared today examined different aspects of our service delivery model and have provided us with qualitative and quantitative evidence that supports an increase to our front-line resources,” said Surrey RCMP Officer in Charge, Chief Superintendent Bill Fordy.
Words that are meaningless if Surrey-ites do not feel secure!
According to One Surrey, “last year, there were a record number of homicides in Surrey, and this year attempted murder is up 600 per cent, vehicle thefts are up 45 per cent, sexual assaults are up 30 per cent, and property crime is up 27 per cent.”
