Surrey First still waiting to make public safety a priority, says Barinder Rasode

 

BARINDER Rasode and her One Surrey team welcomed on Saturday Surrey First and Linda Hepner to the debate on public safety, which has been going on for months.

“For over a year, Linda Hepner and Surrey First have been waiting for another report to let them know if they need to take action to fix Surrey’s crime problem. Clearly the wait-and-see approach hasn’t worked and it’s great they finally agree crime is a problem and worth discussing,” said Rasode.

She added Hepner launched her campaign focussing on building a ferris wheel by the Pattullo Bridge and moving the railway tracks away from White Rock, instead of making public safety a priority.

“Our community has been pleading for help as violent crime and property crime escalate, but Surrey First has insisted there wasn’t a problem and it was just two-year blip. For political reasons they are finally willing to acknowledge our neighbourhoods are actually dealing with some pretty serious public safety issues, so I’m happy they finally seem to understand the magnitude of the problem,” said Rasode, who has been calling for more officers and more public safety resources for over a year.

Rasode reached out to law enforcement experts to create the only comprehensive crime plan of the election, and enlisted the help of Canada’s longest-serving chief of police, Delta’s Jim Cessford, to help draft the 10-point plan to crack down on crime.

She also recruited Merv Bayda and Kal Dosanjh to her One Surrey team, who have 60 years of law enforcement experience between them.

“Innocent moms and kids shouldn’t have to be murdered to realize that more needs to be done. But, you have to want change for change to actually happen,” said Dosanjh, a detective with the Vancouver Police Department. “I joined the One Surrey team because they understand Surrey has a crime problem and have developed a public safety plan that will actually fix the problems.”

“Surrey can become one of the safest cities in Canada if the leadership at City Hall makes it a priority and starts investing in public safety programs,” said Bayda, who served as an RCMP officer for over 35 years and has spent the last 10 years working as the Surrey RCMP Auxiliary Constable Program Manager. “I’ve seen Surrey’s crime problems from both the law enforcement side and at the neighborhood level. It’s time to do things differently, because the status quo isn’t working.”

For more information on the One Surrey crime plan, visit:

www.OneSurrey.ca