Lisa scans the cars and side streets as she weaves her van through some of the more colorful back lanes and dead end streets of North Surrey. Her task is very specific: spot anything suspicious or out of the ordinary.
After many years of experience, an open or broken car window, odd parking, dirty licence plates on a clean car or new damage around the vehicle door lock usually set off alarm bells.
Lisa (pictured above) has learned to trust her gut, because when it comes to auto crime, she has just about seen it all.
She smiles as she recounts the occasion when, after spotting a suspicious car being driven through North Surrey, she called in a plate number and description to the RCMP. Within seconds the car was surrounded by police. Seeing no way out, the driver drove over a large berm near Surrey Memorial Hospital, crashing into one of the portable buildings on the other side. The car had four occupants, two men and two women.
“They got all four,” Lisa says with satisfaction.
As Operations and Mobile Patrol manager for the non-profit Surrey Crime Prevention Society (SCPS), the diminutive woman has developed a passion for her work.
And she thrives on the rush of adrenaline that comes with searching for criminal activity.
“It’s fun to find them (stolen cars),” Lisa says. “Last year I found 72 vehicles, which is way down. In past years we have found as many as 200.”
Lisa believes the highly successful police-run Bait Car program may be contributing to the drop in thefts.
Nonetheless, for the past 30 years, members of SCPS have been patrolling Surrey streets on foot and by car looking to rid the city of crime.
Since 1981, the society has been instrumental in locating hundreds of stolen vehicles, being an extra set of eyes for the RCMP, offering tips to residents on how to minimize theft, and operating car, bike and foot patrols throughout the city.
“We prevent crime so that Surrey and crime does not get linked in the same name,’’ says SCPS Executive Director Mary-Lou McCausland.
There is a role for citizens to play when it comes to being proactive against crime, McCausland says. With SCPS staff and volunteers out in the community and partnering with local law enforcement, RCMP members are then free to respond more quickly to emergency calls.
“We also found we had a calming effect,” she says. “Often just our presence tends to prevent criminal activity before it starts.”
The volunteers are trained before heading out on the street. They always work in pairs and are taught never to engage with suspects.
The society currently has more than 200 volunteers patrolling the city on a regular basis performing over 28,000 hours of volunteer service last year in high-traffic areas such as Guildford Town Centre, Newton Community Centre, and the Central City SkyTrain station.
Starting out as a volunteer, Lisa has worked with the organization for 10 years. Sitting quietly in the passenger seat next to her is a new recruit – volunteer Josh, 30, who is efficiently typing licence plate numbers into his laptop computer.
Using a downloaded list of nearly 2,400 stolen B.C. plate numbers, the new volunteer is spending his first day on the job searching for a match. After tours of duty in Iraq, Kuwait, Qatar and Germany and a master’s degree in criminal justice and criminal behaviour, the U.S. Airforce veteran moved to Canada with his wife to pursue a career in policing and needs volunteer time as part of the application process.
With a minimum age requirement of 18, many of the SCPS volunteers are university students looking to log volunteer hours. In fact, 90 per cent of the volunteers have some sort of criminal education background and are looking to either give back to their community or gain valuable volunteer experience for a career in law enforcement.
The society recommends a minimum of four hours per month and a minimum of two hours per shift for their mobile patrols.
But despite their perceived free time, the patrol has very few senior volunteers, although the society does have a Seniors’ Safety Patrol working around Sunrise Pavilion in Newton and the Fleetwood Recreation Centre.
Newton volunteer patrol manager Kam is always looking for new people. Running both the Newton and Guildford Town Centre patrols can be challenging. Using hand-held palm pilots, his groups look for stolen cars as well as offering drivers information on how to protect their belongings by posting “lock out auto crime” notices on the windshields of cars with high theft items left in open view – a definite magnet for would be thieves.
Patrolling events such as the annual Vaisakhi parade and other various special events, Kam’s volunteers put in a minimum four hours per week.
“We try to discourage drug activity, panhandling, open alcohol use, and assaults in and around the Newton bus loop and Newton Community Centre.”
But despite numerous awards for a their tireless efforts, the society – which relies entirely on outside funding – has felt the pinch of the current economy. While SCPS – with an annual operating budget of $300,000 – receives funds from the City of Surrey, the province (gaming grants), private donations, and membership fees, this year funding from ICBC has been eliminated.
ICBC has provided more than $140,000 in funding to the society over the last three years, but notes auto theft in Surrey has decreased by 52 per cent between 2003 and 2009.
“We invest in the the most effective ways to prevent auto crime” says Lindsay Olsen, ICBC Media Relations, and they are looking to explore more effective ways to prevent auto crime in Surrey.
The SCPS had to tighten its belt.
“It would be a loss to the city if the levels are not maintained,” says McCausland.
Despite the decrease in funding “we had to cut some hours but not the number of patrols.”
To help boost cash flow, the Surrey Crime Prevention Society is hosting a celebration and fundraiser in Surrey on March 4. For details, see below.
Bollywood nights
• Friday, March 4, at 6 p.m.
• Viceroy Banquet Hall, 8580 132 St.
• Music, food, and live entertainment with a goal of raising more than $10,000 for the Surrey Crime Prevention Society.
• For more information and tickets, call Konch at 604-592-0255.