A public consultation process undertaken by the Surrey Police Board and Surrey Police Service between June and October found that of some 1,200 Surrey residents surveyed, their three top concerns are violent crime, organized crime gangs and timely police response to urgent calls for police survey.
All told, of the three top priorities, violent crimes rated 91 per cent, organized crime gangs 88 per cent, and timely response 86 per cent.
“Surrey Police Service sincerely appreciates the input and insights offered by the citizens of Surrey during this consultation process,” Chief Const. Norm Lipinski said. “This is only the beginning – SPS is committed to regular community consultations, engagement and collaboration to help inform policing in Surrey.”
Moreover, 90 per cent of respondents indicated they want SPS officers to wear body cameras, 64 per cent said it was somewhat/very important SPS officers are representative of Surrey’s cultural makeup and 64 per cent indicated their fluency in more than one language is important.
“The sample sizes used for this consultation are considered statistically accurate for Surrey’s population by the researchers involved in this project,” SPS media liaison Ian MacDonald noted in a press release. “Input was gathered from Indigenous leaders, seniors, the differently abled, school officials, the LGBTQ2S+ community, the private sector, organizations focused on housing, mental health and addictions, newcomers, youth, and others.”
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The press release also states that only six per cent of respondents indicated support for keeping the Surrey RCMP. The Surrey Police Board and the SPS leadership team, the press release also notes, will use results from the consultation “to inform SPS’s first strategic plan,” to be developed this fall and released in early 2022.
“This input will also be used to develop a community policing service delivery model for SPS, which will be operationalized when SPS becomes the official police agency of jurisdiction for Surrey,” it states.
tom.zytaruk@surreynowleader.com
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