SURREY: The recent media reports about province cappingthe number of Surrey police officers that will be hired in the coming year, has pushed Surrey’s South Asian religious organizations to write to authorities about their increasing concerns on public safety in the city and how the city and the province need to fast track transitioning process instead of vested interests “politicizing” the issue. They feel that “any further delays or administrative barriers will only put our Surrey neighborhoods at risk.”
Members of three Surrey Gurudwaras and Lakshmi Narayan Temple have expressed their concerns in two separate letters written to Surrey’s mayor and province’s public safety minister, respectively.
Surrey Now Leader and Global BC in their news reports mentioned SPS media liaison Ian MacDonald informing that the province has “given a range that’s more in the 175 to 200 officersin 2022.” This number is half of what new department had been aiming for.
In a statement, B.C.’s Ministry of Public Safety and Solicitor General said a multitude of factors went into the new directive. “The director’s guidance takes into consideration factors such as the effects of officer attrition from other police agencies in B.C., the (Justice Institute of British Columbia) JIBC Police Academy’s ability to accommodate increased recruit training needs, the Surrey RCMP’s ability to ramp down, as well as ensuring efficiencies during the transition period,” it said.
Gurdwara DukhNivaran Sahib, Gurdwara Sahib Dasmesh Darbar and Guru Nanak Sikh Gurdwara sent a letter to Surrey’s Mayor Dough McCallum mentioning that their primary concern is “the safety and security of our community and children.”The letter also mentions that this issue which has consumed much of taxpayer money and governance time needs to be addressed and “not politicized.”
Members of Lakshmi Narayan Mandir of Surrey wrote to Mike Farnworth, minister of Public Safety and Solicitor General. “As reported in the media, your government’s Policing and Security Branch has left the SPS with approximately half the number of recruits they wished to bring on over the coming calendar,” said Satish Kumar, president of the temple.
Extending their support to Surrey police transition, Kumar speaking on behalf of the entire temple board said, “Our board believes strongly in this policing transition, and as expressed in both the 2018 election and the failure of opponents to garner enough support for a referendum, we believe the Government of BC now has the obligation to facilitate this process seamlessly.”
He also said that the government should, “add capacity to the Justice Institute of British Columbia immediately so that additional training can occur in years of this upcoming transitory phase.”
The letter by the temple put its focus on public safety and mentioned, “Please consider our concern for public safety seriously, as we believe that any further delays or administrative barriers will only put our Surrey neighborhoods at risk.”
The gurudwaras, too, extended their support to the Surrey police. They wrote to Surrey’s mayor, “We have appreciated your commitment to the mandate that you were voted into office on with an overwhelming majority and we expect you to continue moving forward.”
“The mandate you were voted in on included an expanded and improved police service for the City of Surrey and due process has been completed through the democratic processes we have at our disposal in our province/country. In June 2019 we wrote to Minister Mike Farnworth (Minister of Public Safety) asking for swift action to better Surrey’s policing mandate. Since then, the federal and provincial Governments have weighed in and have allowed the city to move forward and we cannot waste more time and taxpayer money on an issue that is being politicized by those looking to promote their personal agendas. We MUST move forward immediately to curb the increase in gang activity, drug distribution, and violent crime in Surrey.”
Expressing serious concern about young generation involved in gang activities, the letter to the mayor said, “While we are aware that Policing alone does not resolve issues within communities that are suffering from gang and drug problems (often it can be Police that escalate such issues in many marginalized and racialized communities), we are also aware that a community centric Police service can gain the trust of the community and ensure equal and fair application of the law which all citizens have a right to and are beholden to.”
“Surrey has seen mass amounts of gang violence over the last decade and we unfortunately have not seen results in curbing this activity and a change is desperately needed to the current policing model which is clearly not working. Other issues around programming for arts/culture, sports/recreation, etc. need to be addressed as well and it is our hope that this can be done soon, but all we have seen is ongoing bickering and disputes between City Council which has spilled over into the residents of Surrey and a growing divide amongst the people. As religious and faith-based organizations, we do not have the expertise nor the right to single-handedly guide decision making for the City of Surrey, but that is exactly what yourself and City Council are here to do.”
Both the organizations have requested a meeting with the authorities to further discuss their concerns.
