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OUR VIEW: Surrey’s crime stats give food for thought

While the numbers don’t exactly warrant breaking out champagne, they are headed in right direction
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Surrey, where people live in fear and residents scatter like peasants in a Clint Eastwood western when bad guys are on the scout.

Right?

According to the most recent Statistics Canada figures, which are for the year 2017 and based on data reported by the Surrey RCMP, there were 45,081 Crime Code violations recorded in this city in 2017 compared to 48,765 in 2016 and 51,116 in 2015.

So the crime rate per 100,000 population for those years, in the same order, worked out to 8,695, 9,507 and 10,090.

While these numbers don’t exactly warrant breaking out the champagne, they are headed in the right direction, especially considering that this city is growing by roughly 1,000 residents each month.

For violent crimes, as reported by RCMP, there were 5,771 in 2017 compared to 6,348 in 2016 and 7,566 in 2015, with a rate per 100,000 population of 1,113 in 2017, and 1,237 in 2016 and 1,493 in 2015.

Again, heading in the right direction for a growing city.

Public safety is always a top-of-mind issue in civic elections and these figures provide food for thought.

Now-Leader