Surrey task force releases findings Friday
Posted February 13, 2014 10:36 pm.
This article is more than 5 years old.
SURREY (NEWS1130) – A task force looking at why Surrey’s murder rate skyrocketed last year will release its findings on Friday.
People in the Newton neighbourhood of Surrey are looking for concrete action.
Doug Elford of the Newtown Community Association says he doesn’t want to hear that more studies are needed or that more committees should to be formed.
“We’ve had task forces. We’ve had studies. We have crime-reduction strategies. Residents say they haven’t seen a reduction in crime. They’ve seen increases in crime,” he says.
He hopes it’s not another occasion where the buck gets passed around and the task force determines that action has to be taken elsewhere.
“In dealing with chronic offenders, everybody seems to have the answers but nobody has the money to support the programs. Where does the money come from to support these programs?”
He says any solutions that are proposed have to be sustainable, pointing out that the increased police presence in Newton is only for the short term.
Newton is where hockey mom Julie Paskall was killed in December, marking a record-breaking 25th homicide in 2013.
