As concerned Surrey residents push public safety after a year of record-setting violence, officials say the number of police officers in the city is sorely lacking.

The murder of 53-year-old mother Julie Paskall in late December has triggered angry questions about whether enough is being done to keep the city safe.

“When citizens say police do not respond, when officers tell me they don’t have the resources, it tells me they’re overstretched,” said Harry Bains, MLA for Surrey-Newton.

Bains said the region needs more officers on foot and bike patrols, and suggested a community court system similar to the one implemented in Vancouver, where social services are integrated into sentencing.

“Right now, they go through the court system, they’re out on the street, commit another crime to feed their addiction, they’re back in the court,” he said.

In Metro Vancouver’s largest geographic region, that means officers often can’t keep up with crime.

“[Residents] will try calling police, and when they don’t respond, they don’t report it anymore. So a lot of crime goes unreported,” he said.

Surrey’s ratio of police to residents is one officer for every 730 people. That pales in comparison to Vancouver, a smaller region, which has one cop for every 495 people.

Coun. Barinder Rasode admits the city hasn’t hired enough police officers to keep up with its rapid growth, and that may need to change if the city is to combat violent crime – even if that means higher taxes.

“Absolutely.Public safety is always top of mind and it’s one of the biggest responsibilities,” she said. “We see examples all over the world – where feet on the ground, where the officers own their block – has huge impact.”

Surrey is home to the lowest residential and business tax rates in the Metro Vancouver area. Property taxes for an average single family home amount to $2,600 in Surrey – the lowest in Metro Vancouver – compared to $3,600 in Vancouver.

The city is holding a civic election in November, when residents will likely be able to decide how much they’re willing to spend to feel safe on the streets.

A suspect has not yet been caught in Paskall’s murder, and Surrey residents staged a rally earlier this month to call for an end to the violence. The city saw a record-setting 25 homicides in 2013.

With a report from CTV British Columbia’s Mi-Jung Lee