A week after the murder of Surrey teen Serena Vermeersch, residents gathered at a Newton community centre to rally for safety in their community.
Young girls like Amber Mondor held pieces of paper asking, “Am I next?” Mondor said she does not feel safe living in Surrey.
"We don't want to walk alone because we’re scared. We are scared that we can be next and we’re gonna get taken,” Amber Mondor said.
Raymond Caissie is accused of killing Vermeersch who was last seen boarding a bus on Sept. 15. Her body was found by railway tracks off 66th Avenue in Newton.
"If you don't feel safe in your own neighborhood nothing else matters," said Surrey resident Darlene Bowyer.
Some residents feel politicians have minimized the rate of crime in Surrey.
"We have kids and we want to know that we can walk around the streets without getting attacked, and that we’re gonna be safe and the police are going to actually do their jobs," said Surrey resident Mikki MacCumber.
Naida Robinson, one of the rally organizers and a mother of five children, said the purpose of the rally is about quality of life, safety and security.
“We’re tired of flop houses. We’re tired of by-law enforcement not having the teeth it should to go after the people who break our current and existing rules,” she said.
The National Parole Board determined Caissie, a convicted rapist, was a high risk to reoffend because of intense aggression and prison violence, according to documents obtained by CTV News.
Bowyer appealed to the government to stop the “revolving door of injustice” as the community centre was filled was applause.
"This is our call for action. The legal system must be changed. Offenders with the label risk to reoffend should never ever be released into our communities,” she said.
Community organizers are demanding a meeting with city hall officials to discuss a crime reduction strategy.
With a report from CTV Vancouver’s Lisa Rossington
