Surrey needs its own independent police force, says SFU criminologist

A B.C. criminology professor says the Surrey RCMP is too understaffed to adequately deal with the city's growth a problem that could be partly addressed, he says,if the city had itsown independent police force.

His comments come after June saw three shooting deaths in the city, including the death of Paul Bennettwho was gunned down in broad daylight on Saturday.

"The challenge is that, for many years, Surrey has been under resourced. It's under policed," saidprofessorCurt Taylor Griffiths, the co-ordinator of Simon Fraser University'sPolice Studies Program at the Surrey campus.

"The RCMP in Surrey needs 400 more officers today."

Griffithssaid the city requires a dynamic police force full of seasoned officers who are equipped with the training needed to tackle the city's unique issues, such as gang violence.

While Griffithsacknowledged that it would be challenging to fully train such officers in a short amount of time, he said it would be easier if the city had its own self-controlled, independent police force.

The problem with anRCMPmunicipal detachmentis that they share funding with other cities and often can't afford to bring on more officers, said Griffiths.

Also, amunicipal detachment has no control over which officers come and how long they stay with the force, he said.

If Surrey had an independentforce, said Griffiths, they would havea police board, could hire and fire a police chiefand would be able to hire officers who workin Surrey for their entire career.

"A lot RCMPofficers policing in Surrey aren't from Surrey and won't be staying in Surrey," said Griffiths.

"That presents a challenge in terms of the officers knowing the community and being invested in the community."

Additionally, under resourcing a police department takes a huge toll on theofficers health and well-being, he said.

Griffiths said that if the Surrey detachment hadmore resources, itcould be involved inmore crime-prevention initiatives similar to Vancouver'sBar Watch.

"Part of it is having the personnel, the other part of the equation is deploying them effectively."

With files from The Early Edition

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