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Surrey RCMP's most recent stats reflect seven per cent drop in violent crime

This is based on stats comparing the first half of 2016 with the first half on 2015 and does not include July.
Photo by Kevin Hill
Surrey RCMP's latest crime stats report indicates violent crime is dropping

SURREY — The Surrey RCMP is saying violent crime dropped by seven per cent and the total number of criminal code offences also decreased by four per cent when comparing January 1 to June 30 of this year with the same period last year,

This is based on statistics the detachment compiles four times a year. The second-quarter stats for 2016 has just been released. The latest tally is to June 30 and of course does not include what happened in July.

Year-to-date highlights, compared to the same period in 2015, had homicides down by 50 per cent (to date have been five homicides in Surrey so far this year, with three happening in the first two quarters). Attempted murder was down by 41 per cent, robbery down 38 per cent, sexual assaults up 18 per cent, assaults down six per cent and abductions and kidnappings were up by 20 per cent.

In Surrey, between January 1 and June 30 this year, police recorded 3,285 violent crimes, 13 attempted murders, 215 robberies, 152 sexual assaults, 1,614 assaults and 36 abductions/kidnappings.

In comparison, the same period last year saw 3,523 violent crimes in Surrey. Between January 1 and June 30, 2015, Surrey recorded six homicides, 22 attempted murders, 349 robberies, 129 sexual assaults, 1,710 assaults, and 30 abductions/kidnappings.

All told, in the first two quarters of both years,  Surrey recorded 24,357 criminal code offences in 2016 compared to 25,312 in 2015.

Violent crimes aside, the city also saw a three per cent drop overall in property crimes, with the exception of a five per cent increase in break-ins, 14 per cent increase in thefts from automobiles, seven per cent increase in shoplifting and an increase of one per cent in fraud cases.

The biggest spike Surrey saw was a 122 per cent increase in prostitution-related offences, from nine to 20.

As for drug crimes, the police recorded a 26 per cent decrease in cocaine possession, 20 per cent decrease in marijuana production and seven per cent increase in marijuana possession.

Surrey has had five homicides in 2016:

July 23: Jatinder "Michael" Sandhu, 28, was shot in the head while sitting in a car parked in a driveway in the 14300-block of 90A  Avenue. Police believe he was an innocent victim and not an intended target.

July 2: The body of Brendan Aditya Chand, 27, was found in Whalley's Bog Park on July 3rd. Police had received reports of gunshots being heard in the area at about 10:30 p.m. July 2. Court records indicate Chand had been sentenced in B.C. Supreme Court in Vancouver to seven years after pleading guilty in 2014 to shooting a man in the shoulder in Burnaby in 2011.

May 15: Mandeep Bhatti, 29, was charged with manslaughter after a member of his family — a 32-year-old man whose name police have not released — died in hospital on May 15. Police said the man was taken to hospital on May 2, suffering from a skull fracture requiring emergency surgery, after they responded to a complaint of an assault in a residence in the 6700-block of 152nd Street. The man was released from hospital on May 9, re-admitted three days later with a brain bleed, and died on May 15.

March 20: Sukhvir Badhesa, 39, was charged with second-degree murder after a 61-year-old woman died inside a house in 10000-block of 128A Street on March 20. Police have not released the woman's name.

March 11: Ishaan "Lucky" Dhanoa, 21, died in hospital after he was shot and his car crashed into a tree at 79th Avenue and 123rd Street.

tom.zytaruk@thenownewspaper.com



About the Author: Tom Zytaruk

I write unvarnished opinion columns and unbiased news reports for the Surrey Now-Leader.
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