It's kind of like keeping up with the Joneses, but on a much grander scale. Every slate's gotta have one, it seems.
We're talking about one of those new-fangled, much-coveted plans to remedy all that's crime-related in Surrey, now and forever more.
No Surrey political campaign, of course, is complete without one.
Last month, former mayor Doug McCallum and his Safe Surrey Coalition launched its political boat with the presentation of a $21-million, six-point "Public Safety Platform" cure-all.
Not to be outdone, mayoralty rival Barinder Rasode took a shot across her rivals' bow with her 10-point "360-Degree Plan to Fight Crime" last week. Does one get more points for having more points, we wonder?
After Rasode released her Public Safety plan, Surrey First fired out a rejoinder claiming she'd - ahem - borrowed heavily from their own 2007 Crime Reduction Strategy.
Linda Hepner, Surrey First's mayoral candidate, is quoted in her slate's press release as saying Rasode's plan - the good points, of course - are "little more than the regurgitation of our current award-winning policies."
Let's keep score, shall we? The Safe Surrey Coalition's inaugural press release said Surrey is "faced with an ongoing crime wave that is being met with inaction by the current Surrey mayor and council."
Rasode then torpedoed "both" her rivals, claiming they're more-or-less tired.
Hepner, meanwhile, brought out the big canon: "Anyone who wants to be mayor of Surrey and says they've got a simple solution to policing, crime and public safety isn't being honest with our citizens."
And while Surrey's political rivals scrap it out over crime, what are we hearing about the issue on Delta's campaign trail?
Crickets. Seems it's so boring over there that Delta Police Chief Jim Cessford has seen fit to make an unusual foray across the thin blue line that is Scott Road into Surrey's civic politics by helping Rasode with her plan. "I'm not here to tick off the RCMP, but I have family there too," Cessford said of Surrey.
If Surrey's top cop is feeling like Cessford is telling him how to run his shop, and is a little miffed about it, he's been silent so far.
The Now