Surrey RCMP promise increased scrutiny of known gang members to try to ease violence

SURREY (NEWS 1130) – Mounties in Surrey are pledging to crack down on gang activity in that city, including a tighter leash on those with known gang ties.

“Our priorities are those individuals who pose the highest risk to public safety because of their actions,” RCMP Sgt. Elenore Sturko said on Thursday.

Known gang members in #Surrey have been put on-notice. @SurreyRCMP promising more curfew and vehicle pull-overs of known gang members in a bid to crack down on increased violence. Mounties also putting onus on anyone with ties to gang members to report them. @NEWS1130

— Paul James (小保) (@pjimmyradio) May 13, 2021

Surrey’s Gang Enforcement team has already been bolstered with additional officers from different sections of the detachment. These officers, along with existing members of the Gang Enforcement Team, are going to be tasked with keeping closer tabs on known gang members.

This will include increased curfew checks for known gang members who are on parole. The RCMP is also suggesting more roadside pullovers of gang members, as well as the use of technology to assist them.

“Automatic License Plate Readers (ALPR) are being used in strategic locations, with the assistance of Surrey Traffic Services. The ALPR is capable of instantly reading multiple plates and identifying stolen plates, vehicles of interest and even individuals with warrants,” Sturko said.

The RCMP in Surrey is also putting part of the onus on those who know or have ties with gang members to be part of the solution.

“There are individuals with gang members and affiliates in their family, people who are right now profiting off of illegal activity by family members who have not come forward with information,” Sturko said.

At the same time, the RCMP say the pushback against gang activity is also taking on a regional approach, noting there is already existing coordination among various detachments in the region. The Mounties are pointing to the recent dismantling of a major drug lab in Port Coquitlam as an example of how they are working to take down the way in which gangs generate cash.

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The RCMP says on April 19, it was able to dismantle a local factory in Port Coquitlam where fentanyl was being produced. The drug is connected to the spike in overdose deaths across British Columbia during the pandemic. The lab is believed to have been producing as much as 26 kg of the drug.

“An illicit fatal street dose of fentanyl is estimated to be 2 mg. This seizure is approximately 13 million potentially fatal doses,” Surrey RCMP Superintendent Aaron Paradis noted.

The new plans announced by the RCMP in Surrey to crack down on gang activity comes as chiefs of police meet with B.C. Solicitor General Mike Farnworth on Thursday to discuss further ways to try to reduce the level of gang violence, which has seen numerous people killed in recent weeks. A number of the shootings have taken place in public, during daylight hours.

“When I have my discussions with the police … it will be able to get a full sense of the situation that communities are facing throughout the Lower Mainland and the approach that is being taken. Police have said this is not about resources. But at the same time, I want to make sure that there’s no gaps where the province could provide further assistance,” Farnworth said earlier Thursday.

Farnworth says the province is committed to supporting police.