SURREY — Surrey's police committee has decided to continue to provide local crime statistics to the public on a quarterly basis, as well as monthly updates of its crime maps.
This was on the recommendation of Surrey RCMP Chief Supt. Bill Fordy. The force has been providing crime stats on a quarterly basis on its website www.surrey.rcmp.ca since 2006.
"The quarterly report is intended to create better awareness and understanding of the incidence of crime across Surrey and help inform community engagement in crime prevention," Fordy said.
The crime figures revealed are the total number of offences, per selected crime categories, for the city overall and each of its five policing districts but not at the neighborhood, block or street level.
City councillors expressed concerns about making access to the information on the website more user-friendly. Fordy stated in his report to the committee that "consideration may also be given to enhancing the crime mapping functionality to include additional crime types and visualization tools."
Coun. Dave Woods, a former Surrey Mountie, noted crime "still continues to be, without a doubt, the top priority in the city. The community wants more and more information about it."
Fordy noted in his report to the committee that, by comparison, the Vancouver Police provide crime stats on a monthly and annual basis, Delta Police reports on a monthly basis and Abbotsford Police report not monthly, but every four weeks for 13 periods each year.
Whalley Block Watch Captain Patricia Enair attended Monday's meeting, at city hall. Asked if she finds the crime stats useful, Enair replied "Not really at all. As a Block Watch captain, I know before anybody that somebody's been broken into. I mean, the only people that know before me are the police. So, how is that useful to Block Watch captains? They know what the problem is, they know what the issues are in their neighborhood. It's not a mystery to them. To tell them 'You've had X amount of break-ins,' they already know that."
Surrey's next police committee meeting is scheduled for June 1st.
tzytaruk@thenownewspaper.com