FORMER Surrey RCMP chief Brian Edwards, who will be heading the City of Surrey’s new Public Safety Department, starting Monday, August 25, has his work cut out for him, thanks to all the extortion cases plaguing the South Asian business community in Surrey.

The latest case of extortion of a South Asian business involves a car wash at 128 Street and 84 Avenue that was first reported by the Surrey Now-Leader. Omni News followed up with an interview with the owner who told them that he received a call on August 16 from a person who identified himself and demanded $50,000. The caller told him that he had more than 30 criminal charges and had done time in both American and Canadian jails. However, the car wash owner turned down his offer and hung up.

The owner told Omni that on August 17 at 12:20 a.m., some people who seemed to carry what could have been weapons in their jackets came to his house and knocked at his door three or four times. However, he was not aware that someone was at the door. Later, viewing CCTV footage, he found out that one of the men who had his back to a camera appeared to be taking out something from his jacket, when the other man warned him that there was a camera behind him. The man then seemed to leave whatever the object was in his jacket. After a few minutes, the men departed.

According to Omni News, the owner informed Surrey police about the matter and a police cruiser was then parked outside his car wash business.

The following day (August 18), the owner told Omni that Surrey Police informed him at his home that at approximately 11:05 p.m. someone had fired at his shop.

The owner told Omni that the perpetrators also stole all his equipment and vandalized his shop.

He said that four months ago, a customer had offered to buy his business for $50,000 or more, but he turned down his offer. He said that when he received the extortion call on August 17, he saw the same person’s name on the screen.

As reported earlier this month, Surrey City Manager Rob Costanzo in an email to staff had announced that Edwards will head the City’s Public Safety Department.

He said: “The Public Safety Department was created to align and coordinate the many civic services that contribute to community safety, including Fire, Bylaws, Engineering, Parks, Planning, Emergency Preparedness, and the city’s partnership with the Surrey Police Service (SPS) and Surrey Police Board (SPB).

“Mr. Edwards’ goals are to align non-police civic functions that support public safety (e.g., emergency preparedness), help Council identify and refine the City’s public safety goals; and provide corporate oversight of the City’s role in the policing transition plan, ensuring City deliverables are met.”