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OUR VIEW: Anti-Police Power Surrey argument is puerile

When the burglar, the robber, or worse comes calling, what are you going to do? Wave a placard?
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A group calling themselves Anti-Police Power Surrey marched along 104th Avenue and King George Boulevard Saturday, Nov. 24. (Photo: Lauren Collins)

Clearly, nobody in their right mind wants to live in a police state. And obviously, there needs to be limitations on police presence in our lives.

Authoritarianism? No thank you very much.

This is why we have institutions built in to keep police in line: Legislation, the courts, lawyers, the Independent Investigations Office of B.C…

It’s true nobody should be happy the city spends roughly one third of its operating budget on policing, and this is a legitimate target for critics.

It’s also true that the few bad eggs in the police force – those who make headlines for breaking laws they are sworn to uphold – do no justice to the image of their fellow police and attract mistrust toward cops as a whole. But our local police are not the Stasi. This in not North Korea.

This Anti-Police Power Surrey group that staged a protest rally near city hall on Saturday, carrying placards with slogans like “Homes not police terror,” and chanting, “Schools not prisons, books not bars,” misses the mark.

READ ALSO: Protesters march in North Surrey to protest policing costs

The group would do well to keep its focus on the finances, but instead its representatives advance inane arguments.

To suggest we should cut back on spending on police because the crime rate isn’t so bad is puerile. How do they think it got that way? Will anarchy improve Surrey’s crime rate?

Moreover, to “divest” from police to focus on social housing, schools and all sorts other good things is symptomatic of a Pollyanna view of the world that does not acknowledge the not-rampant but very present human evil to be found anywhere people live.

When you have a toothache, you see a dentist, not a carpenter. When you are being victimized by crime, you call police. Who else are you going to call?

When the burglar, the robber, or worse comes calling, what are you going to do?

Wave a placard?

While we wholeheartedly champion citizens’ rights to stage public protests, we also reserve the right to call out intellectual fluff as we see it.

The Now-Leader



edit@surreynowleader.com

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