Extortion-focused safety forum held in Surrey

A series of violent shootings in Surrey over the past few days amid extortion calls has led many in the community to ask questions about safety.

Meanwhile, in response to community concerns, the Surrey Safety Community Forum was held on Sunday afternoon from 2pm to 4pm at the Reflections Banquet Hall in Surrey.

This is the same location where a similar forum was held about a year and a half ago on the same issue.

MP Sukh Dhaliwal, provincial Public Safety Minister Garry Begg, Surrey Mayor Brenda Locke, Surrey Police Chief Chief Constable Norm Lipinski, and RCMP Chief Superintendent Wendy Mehat were on hand to serve as keynote speakers at the forum and take questions from reporters.

In addition, the provincial Leader of the Opposition, John Rustad, and Langley City MP Tamara Jansen also participated as speakers and asked some questions criticizing the actions of the provincial and federal governments regarding extortion calls.

Forum organizers Vinay Sharma and Satish Kumar said during the initial conversation that there were many commitments from the police and the government regarding extortion threats and the recent increase in shootings and violent incidents related to it, but its impact is not visible on those who commit the incidents.

Public Safety Minister Garry Begg said the provincial government is ready to support local police in every way possible on this issue and that more than $100 million is being spent annually on specialized enforcement and intelligence programs to combat organized crime in B.C.

Meanwhile, Mayor Locke said that policing in Surrey today is under threat and the city is not getting the service it deserves. She called for better support, especially from the provincial and federal governments.

Chief Constable Norm Lipinski, in response to a question, said that no one has been charged in recent extortion cases.

Chief Superintendent Wendy Mehat, in response to a question, said she did not have a firm figure on how many ransom calls had been reported, including those for which information about the ransom calls was not shared.

In the past, questions were also being raised as to why SPS did not share any information after shots were fired at the same house in the Panorama area until a TV news channel reported on it.

In this regard, Connect FM asked Chief Norm Lipinski what the process is for notifying the general public about shootings and firearms incidents, and at what point does public safety outweigh privacy concerns.

At this, Chief Lipinski explained the process and clarified that public safety is always the top priority for the police.

However, during the closing comments after the question-and-answer session ended, Satish Kumar, who faced these extortion calls, sternly questioned the SPS and RCMP and said has the time come when the police are no longer ensuring the safety of the people and should ordinary people now start carrying weapons to deal with this?

Representatives of governments at all levels and police officials asked for confidence and, without giving any time frame, said that some specific decisions and important actions in the cases would soon be seen.