Mother of Surrey Six victim joins push for police transition referendum
Posted August 13, 2021 9:19 am.
Last Updated August 13, 2021 9:20 am.
SURREY (NEWS 1130) – Another mother who lost a loved one to gang shootings in Surrey has joined the push for referendum on the city’s transition to a local police force.
Eileen Mohan, whose 22-year-old son Christopher was an innocent victim of the Surrey Six killings in 2007 says after the shooting, the Surrey RCMP were there for her.
“The tenderness of heart, the respect that they showed me and, honestly, I never knew I had a second family in the RCMP,” Mohan said, adding she doesn’t think it’s a service a local police force will be able to match. “We have experienced RCMP officers and the RCMP who are serving the community are already embedded in that knowledge.”
Prominent Surrey resident Eileen Mohan has joined Surrey Police Vote citizens initiative proponent Darlene Bennett as a supporter of the campaign, which asks the Province of B.C. to hold a binding referendum on the proposed police transition away from the RCMP. pic.twitter.com/kYbRMyi2z0
— SurreyPoliceVote (@SurreyPoliceSay) August 12, 2021
Mohan joins Surrey Police Vote proponent Darlene Bennett. Bennett’s husband, Paul, who was a nurse and minor hockey coach, was gunned down in Cloverdale in 2018 in a case of mistaken identity.
Canvassers have until mid-November to get 10 per cent of registered voters in all 87 electoral districts in the province on board. The issue could then go to a binding referendum, but that may not happen before the transition is already done.
The Surrey Police Service plans to have officers on the ground by the fall.
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Bringing in a municipal force was an election pledge for Mayor Doug McCallum, but critics argue he downplayed the real costs of making that change.
When asked about the referendum application, Farnworth said the police transition was approved by the Surrey council, and those opposed to the plan should take that up with that level of government.
