Surrey RCMP too slow to respond to community tips, activist says
Meera Gill said it can take three weeks for RCMP to respond to those who call non-emergency line
Community activist Meera Gill said that Surrey RCMP are too slow to respond when concerned family members call the non-emergency line to offer tips about their children.
- Parents at Strawberry Hill Elementary concerned after school hit with bullets
- Surrey school hit in shooting, leaving man injured
Gill, who is a mother of two, lives near Newton, where an elementary school was hit by bullets after a shooting on Tuesday evening that left one man injured.
"The parents they're saying, 'I have an issue, I know that my kid is doing something fishy. Either I've seen drugs or I've seen weapons in their bags'" said Gill, whose organization has run public forums with the Combined Forces Special Enforcement Unit.
"They call non-emergency. What's the response time? Maybe there's going to be a quick call within 10, 15 hours, but then the response time is going to be three weeks.
"Can you imagine — three weeks — how much could go wrong, when there could be four shootings in 19 hours? It's scary, it's scary for every parent," she said.
Evidence is needed
Gill said that the RCMP know which individuals are involved in the violence, and said more should be done to monitor them.
"They need to take these kids — and I'm not saying criminals, I'm saying kids — and put them aside somewhere and have a conversation and watch them. They can't just let them go like this."
When asked for reaction to Gill's claims, RCMP sent a statement to CBC news, but that statement does not address Gill's assertion that response times are too slow.
Instead, Surrey RCMP Investigative Services Officer Supt. Manny Mann said that they have laid a number of charges and seized weapons over the past six months.
"We understand citizens are frustrated that we have not made arrests for the shootings themselves," the statement said.
"While our intelligence has identified persons involved in these shootings, we cannot make arrests without sufficient evidence to support a charge.
"In order to do that, we need those who are involved and their friends and family to tell us what they know – this lack of cooperation has been a significant hindrance to our investigations."
The statement ends with a plea for anyone with information to call a tip line at 604-945-6566
To hear the full interview click on the audio labelled: Spate of Surrey shootings frustrate mom
With files from Enza Uda