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‘So tired of all this violence’: Dramatic brawl caught on video in Surrey

Head of Surrey Crime Prevention Society says her youth volunteers regularly witness similar incidents

A dramatic brawl at a mall in Strawberry Hill last Saturday has the head of Surrey Crime Prevention Society calling on police to pay serious attention.

“Our volunteers were there and witnessed the youth hanging out, and growing in size,” Karen Reid-Sidhu, executive director of SCPS, told the Now-Leader. “Our Citizen Community Safety Watch Program is out from 9 p.m. to 2 a.m., and they’ve documented what they have seen.”

According to Reid-Sidhu, it happened on Saturday night (Aug. 10).

Reid-Sidhu shared a video of the incident on Facebook and said she was concerned for the safety of the public.

Reid-Sidhu noted she also shared the video with the RCMP’s district commander for the area, and that she has been advised they would step up patrols.

“This happens all the time,” Reid-Sidhu said. “Our volunteers have witnessed drinking in public, drug dealings, and the harassment of young girls. It is disgusting.”

“So tired of all this violence,” she added.

Surrey RCMP said Monday that no one officially reported the incident and urge the public to call them to report such behaviour.

Constable Richard Wright said the first time he saw that video was via a reddit.com link.

“It’s very common. It’s happened twice in the last two weeks,” Wright said of police being alerted to incidents following videos being shared on social media.

Having said that, Wright said the behaviour in the video is “completely unacceptable.”

“We absolutely understand the public’s concern regarding the behaviour in the video,” he said, adding that police “are aware that this behaviour goes on in the area.”

Local officers, he said, are “acutely aware” of the area’s challenges and that it is considered an “active hot spot for frontline officers, subject to multiple patrols throughout their shift.”

Wright said as a result of the video, the Crime Reduction Unit has opened an investigation into what went on and police ask anyone who recognizes anyone in the video to talk to police.

“The best way to get information to us is to call us, then share the video with us rather than have it come to us through the ether,” he added.

Call Surrey RCMP at 604-599-0502.

SEE ALSO: Video captures violence and chaos in Surrey neighbourhood

READ ALSO: ‘A triage point’: Surrey’s new SAFE centre aims to divert kids away from gang life



amy.reid@surreynowleader.com

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