The Editor,
Re: "As a cop, I know how short-staffed Surrey is," the Now letters, May 15.
Hats off to Surrey RCMP S/Sgt Mike Ingles for having the courage to inform us of the real facts with regards to the policing crisis in our city. He should get an award for telling it like it is.
His letter's closing sentence tells it all. "Trying to reduce crime in a community that is growing as quickly as Surrey while having a police force that has half the police officers compared to surrounding areas is a recipe for disaster and results in more crime, not less."
He also informed us that last year the RCMP provided more than 134,000 hours of unpaid overtime - nearly 65 full-time officers worth of time. The question begs to be asked, why have we not addressed this serious deficit? We, in the Port Kells area of Surrey, have seen our fair share of crime. Over the past few years, we have been afflicted with theft by addicted people, grow-ops, home invasions, etc.
One of our residents actually had their house burned down after the thieves realized they were caught on a video surveillance camera. We had more officers temporarily deployed into our neighbourhood to deal with our crisis, as was done when the Newton area had their crisis, and no doubt as they probably are doing in Tynehead now that crime has plagued their community with break-ins, vandalism and at least one home invasion.
Then there are the problems in Whalley, Panorama Ridge and even South Surrey, where there was a recent armed home invasion.
If you do not feel safe in your own home and neighbourhood, little else matters.
Darlene Bowyer, Surrey