Over 100 extortion cases reported this year: Surrey police

Surrey has reached a new, unfortunate milestone.

The Surrey Police Service confirmed to 1130 NewsRadio that there have been more than 100 reports of extortion this year.

As of Tuesday, the SPS says it’s investigating 101 extortion files, affecting 74 victims. It says 44 of those files are related to shootings.

Surrey-Cloverdale MLA Elenore Sturko says the number is “disturbing,” and the fact that multiple victims have been targeted more than once amounts to a failure by Provincial Minister of Public Safety and Solicitor General Nina Krieger.

“I think we’re well beyond the crisis stage, and I do feel that we are in a state of emergency,” said Sturko.

Last week, the BC RCMP announced it would provide additional resources to the province’s Extortion Task Force, including emergency response teams, police dog services, special forces units, and more.

Sturko is advocating for greater commitments and a significantly increased police presence on Surrey streets.

She says the responsibility lies with the provincial government and Krieger.

“This is a fundamental job that they have to make sure that people who are asleep in their beds at night aren’t being hit by a hail of gunfire. You know that businesses don’t have bullets and Molotov cocktails flying through the window,” said Sturko.

She says the issue stems from a lack of planning ahead of the city’s transition from RCMP jurisdiction to that of the SPS last year.

Both the B.C. government and SPS have established dedicated task forces to address extortion. In July, the province also rolled out a 60-day extortion awareness campaign, sharing information about recognizing and reporting extortion threats.

Meanwhile, Surrey Mayor Brenda Locke announced that the city had established an extortion tip line and set aside a $250,000 reward fund for information leading to convictions.

—With files from David Nadalini