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OUR VIEW: Vigilantism is dangerous but sadly, not surprising in Surrey

It’s fine and well for police to tell people to let the professionals fight crime. But when people lose faith, this is what happens.
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This week

When does a superhero come to save the day?

When the police aren’t, or can’t.

This week, we heard of the strange case of a Surrey man who claims not to be a vigilante but nevertheless ended up chasing a car at high speed while its occupants kept shooting at him.

Police warn residents that it is not a good idea for citizens to chase down bad guys in any circumstance, let alone armed bad guys. No doubt.

That said, because of this guy’s efforts, police ended up making arrests after the suspect car crashed in Delta.

This shooting happened only four days into the new year, following a year that saw scores of shootings on Surrey’s streets.

Surrey has a history of attracting volunteer crime fighters. In the mid-90s, a man named Jon Daykin from Seattle made a pitch to the city council of the day to help fight crime in the north end.

The Guardian Angels, an organization out of the Bronx, came to Surrey in 1985 to help clean local streets in response to a youth gang called the “Whalley Burnouts.”

The Guardian Angels considered returning to Surrey in 2006, after a teenage boy was killed at the Surrey Central SkyTrain Station.

It’s fine and well for police to tell people to let the professionals fight crime. But when people lose faith, this is what happens.

The Now