Surrey is on pace to show its first drop in crime in at least five years, according to RCMP statistics.
Quarterly reports for Criminal Code offences in Surrey have been posted on the city’s website since 2012. As of the end of 2016’s third quarter, Surrey had posted a 5% drop overall, with theft over $5,000 falling by 40% and robbery by 38%. Business break and enters have also dropped substantially (-21%), but residential break and enters (12%) and prostitution (119%) both increased.
Mayor Linda Hepner said she credits an increase in the number of police officers (100 have been added to the force since she took office two years ago) and Surrey’s Integrated Resources for Investigations and Safety (IRIS) project, which is a registry that records the location of security cameras owned by businesses and residents in Surrey, as factors in the decrease.
“Surrey is a big city and like all big cities there are challenges,” Hepner said. “While there is often a fixation with the negative, I like to look at all the positive things that are happening in our city. That’s not to say we aren’t working on the challenges. In fact, we are meeting them head on.”
Hepner said the multiple initiatives, which also include a public safety strategy launched in October 2016, will continue to combat crime in the city at an elevated rate. The strategy also includes an integrated services network, a first of its kind according to the City of Surrey. The program looks to provide an alternative to community courts for repeat offenders, much like alternative dispute resolutions.
The city’s latest crime report also noted that total offences are down 0.4% compared with the city’s 10-year average. There are also notable drops from 2015 in violent crime (-13%) and overall property crime (-1%).
“I believe our efforts are making a difference,” Hepner said, “and both the short- and long-term crime statistics bear that out.”
Surrey RCMP spokeswoman Sgt. Alanna Dunlop highlighted the 38% drop in robbery as something the business community can benefit from, given that property crime has a big effect on company revenue.
“This decline is significant and may be attributed to a number of factors that include sentences currently being served by those responsible for these crimes and a high clearance rate by our investigative teams for these types of crimes,” Dunlop said.
She noted that theft under $5,000 was down 17% at the end of the third quarter compared with the same time last year.
Dunlop added that Surrey RCMP has been using crime analysis to target prolific offenders in specific areas.
“This results in declining crime as those responsible for the majority of these offences are arrested.”
Statistics Canada numbers for 2015 showed an increase in crime countrywide for the first time in 12 years, which means Surrey is bucking a national trend. The national Crime Severity Index rose 5% from 2014, largely due to a big increase in Alberta (18%). British Columbia had a small increase along with Ontario and Saskatchewan, as eight of the 13 provinces had a rise in Criminal Code offences. Victoria (16%) and Abbotsford-Mission (15%) had the biggest increases among British Columbia municipalities. Statistics Canada groups Surrey with the rest of Metro Vancouver.
Anita Huberman, CEO of the Surrey Board of Trade, who recently hosted newly appointed Surrey RCMP Chief Supt. Dwayne McDonald’s first keynote address to the local business community, said she’s pleased to hear about the reduced crime rates, crediting the collaborative strategies the RCMP undertook with the city and businesses. Those strategies will help attract investors to Surrey, she said.
“Surrey is already positioned as a city where young people want to live, work and play,” Huberman said. “We have compelling stories. We continue to position Surrey as an international location and work with visionary leaders.”
Elizabeth Model, CEO of the Downtown Surrey Business Improvement Association, agreed, saying those in her organization were “pleased to see the downward trend.”
