‘It’s important they see us’: Surrey RCMP hold safety fair amid rising crime

BY ROBYN CRAWFORD CKNW
Posted November 2, 2019 5:14 pm

Surrey RCMP were in Clayton Heights Saturday for a Public Safety Fair. Robyn Crawford/ Global News

After a recent spike in crime in the area, Surrey RCMP were in Clayton Heights for a public safety fair Saturday.

The detachment launched National Crime Prevention Week at Ecole Salish Secondary school from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.

The fair had victim services information, community outreach program brochures, and information on how to combat auto-crime.

Surrey RCMP’s officer-in-charge, Assistant Comm. Dwayne McDonald, says it comes after two violent crimes in Clayton Heights over the past two months.

READ MORE: IHIT deployed to fatal targeted shooting in Surrey’s Clayton Heights neighbourhood

“Any time a neighborhood in the city sees a spike I think it’s important they see us and engage with us,” he said at the event.

The family-oriented area saw a shooting at a Mobil gas station along Fraser Highway in September. A week later, there was a stabbing outside another gas station a block away.

“I think Clayton represents one of the quickest growing areas in the city, a lot of young families here,” said McDonald.

“A lot of people are interested in community engagement, so we thought it was the perfect opportunity to reach people who may have questions about public safety.”

It’s not just Clayton seeing a rise in crime. According to the latest Surrey RCMP crime statistics released this week, criminal offences increased by six per cent in the third quarter of 2019. As for property crimes, they rose by 10 per cent.

The third quarter also saw five homicides, compared to three in the previous quarter.

READ MORE: Latest Surrey crime stats spark war of words over policing

Surrey Mayor Doug McCallum said Thursday he’s disheartened by the recent spike in crime, but not surprised.

“Our RCMP members are doing the best job they can, but it is clear from what I have heard from our citizens that Surrey would benefit from having its own police department,” the mayor said then.

“I continue to urge the Solicitor General to make this a top priority and that we work as quickly as possible to establish the Surrey Police Department.”

READ MORE: Surrey mayor announces members of new police transition advisory committee

McCallum has continued to say he’s expecting the city’s police force to launch in the spring of 2021.

Meanwhile, McDonald says the fair had nothing to do with a looming civic police force.

“If we do our jobs to the best of our abilities and provide the most efficient, protective, and effective police force we can, that speaks for itself,” he said.

He says RCMP officers will be giving presentations in schools and at community events throughout the following week.

Is the Sask Health Authority Beefing Up Security?

There may be changes coming to security practices to the St Joseph's Hospital; in fact, they're currently looking at strategies for all facilities within the Saskatchewan Health Authority.

Officials hope this process will make sure that all hospitals and facilities ensure the safety of staff, visitors and patients, according to the Executive Director of Infrastructure Management, Derek Miller.

"The intent of the review is really two-fold. One is we brought together the 12 health regions into a single health authority. We want to create a provincial program for security," explained Miller. "We want the review to basically describe to us the current state of security across our various facilities. And the second part of the report is about recommendations, about how we would structure and operate provincial security programs."

When exactly these changes or upgrades will be implemented is still up in their air as they are waiting for the report. Once they have it, they will have to go through it line by line to make any determinations.

"We are anticipating receiving the report likely in a month or so, likely in August. At that point we'll be reviewing it internally and considering the various recommendations. At that point, it'll inform us of our next steps as we develop our strategy for setting up this provincial program for security."

Here in Estevan, Greg Hoffart, Executive Director at the St. Joseph's Hospital is awaiting the results of the review. 

"We have heard no results from their security review at this time. I think that there are definitely areas of the province where security is of great concern in facilities. So we will be interested to see what their reviews and the results of such a review."

 Written by Hayley Hart/Emily Kroeker

CBC

Overall crime rate in Vancouver went down in 2017, VPD says

Property crime and deadly car crashes are down, but homicides and sex offences are up slightly

Vancouver police say the rate of crime in the city dropped in 2017, with less property crime and deadly car crashes but more homicides and car theft.

The overall crime rate has gone down 1.5 per cent, according to department data released Thursday.

Property crime went down nearly two per cent, ending a five-year streak of rising rates. Break-ins to businesses also went down by nearly 18 per cent, robberies were down 23 per cent and deadly motor vehicle collisions dropped by 13 per cent.

There were 1.9 per cent more violent crimes in 2017, but when you compare those numbers for the last 10 years, there's still a decrease.

Homicides in the city went from 12 to 19 last year, for an increase of 58 per cent. Shots fired incidents were up 19 per cent, from 26 to 31.

Sex offences were also up by two per cent.

A statement from the department said motor vehicle theft is still a persistent problem.

"Theft from motor vehicles continues to be an issue in Vancouver, especially downtown," said Const. Jason Doucette. 

"While we'll continue to target offenders, drivers can help by simply not leaving anything visible in their vehicles. If thieves can see it, they're more likely to steal it."

On average, the data noted, Vancouver police responded to calls within nine minutes and 46 seconds in 2017 — about one second slower than the year before.