Crime-prevention group calls on Surrey council to rethink funding freeze
When the Surrey Crime Prevention Society is in your neighbourhood, you might slow down – as its young volunteers monitor the speed of passing cars.
Perhaps that graffiti down the street suddenly won’t be there the next time you pass it, after a round of cleaning up.
But Surrey city council’s move this week to suspend $330,000 in funding for the non-profit society is putting much of that work at risk.
“It comes as a shock to all of us, as we had anticipated that we would receive it as we had in the past,” the society’s volunteer president Mani Fallon told CTV News Tuesday. “It’s going to mean changing our programs up, to accommodate our new budgets.”
Coun. Linda Annis didn’t participate in the vote, as it also dealt with Crime Stoppers funding, where she also works – but she disagrees strongly with council’s decision, which also means $50,000 in funding for her organization is suspended.
“They work very hard in terms of public safety,” said Annis of the non-profit. “Many of these young people seek careers in law enforcement, and these opportunities will be gone if Surrey Crime Prevention can’t sustain itself.”
Arjun Gill, an 18-year-old aspiring police officer, wants council to know what he and other volunteers actually do.
“We look around for stolen vehicles,” Gill said when asked to highlight some of the more memorable parts of his time volunteering. “I think this year we’ve found two stolen vehicles. We almost helped someone from an (overdose). We’ve called in fires, and we’ve called in lots of impaired drivers.”
Gill says his volunteer work has also allowed him to network with police officers, and get insight from them on what day-to-day work in law enforcement is actually like.
As for the reasoning for the suspension – city council had previously threatened to pull the plug on funding if the society didn’t exclusively work with the RCMP and not with the new Surrey Police Service.
“If politics is what’s leading this decision, unfortunately the casualty are the youth, and that’s not fair to them,” Fallon said.
The society aims to continue its work, but with half its annual funding now pulled, it faces tough decisions on how it will reduce its operations. Fallon is appealing to the business community to help fill the gap – as the organization celebrates 40 years of service in Surrey with a gala next month.
CTV News has requested comment from Surrey Mayor Brenda Locke’s office on this story.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
2 died in plane crash near Squamish, B.C., police confirm
Two people died after a plane went down in a remote area near Squamish, B.C. on Friday, authorities have confirmed.
Grayson Murray's parents say the two-time PGA Tour winner died of suicide
Grayson Murray's parents said Sunday their 30-year-old son took his own life, just one day after he withdrew from a PGA Tour event.
Blaine Higgs 'furious' over sexual education presentation
New Brunswick Premier Blaine Higgs has shared his anger on social media over a presentation in at least four high schools.
After more than 100 years, Newfoundland's unknown soldier returns home
An unknown Newfoundland soldier, who fought and died on the battlefields in northeastern France during the First World War, is back home this weekend for the first time in more than a hundred years.
This type of screen time has the worst effect on kids: experts
According to some experts, there is one type of screen time that is continuously excessive, and it's having a severe effect on our children.
Driver, 18, gets $3,000 ticket, 32 demerit points after speeding on Laval boulevard
A young driver received a hefty fine from Laval police after they say he was driving nearly 100 km/h over the posted speed limit.
Trump confronts repeated boos during raucous Libertarian convention speech
Donald Trump was booed repeatedly while addressing Saturday night’s Libertarian Party National Convention.
Indianapolis 500 starts after 4-hour rain delay with Kyle Larson in the field
The Indianapolis 500 started Sunday after a rain delay of four hours with NASCAR star Kyle Larson still at the track and in the race.
Some birds may use 'mental time travel,' study finds
Real quick — what did you have for lunch yesterday? Were you with anyone? Where were you? Can you picture the scene? The ability to remember things that happened to you in the past, especially to go back and recall little incidental details, is a hallmark of what psychologists call episodic memory — and new research indicates that it’s an ability humans may share with birds called Eurasian jays.