The City of Surrey has set up a $250,000 reward fund for information leading to convictions in the 44 extortion cases known to date, as extortion-related crimes continue to surge in the South Asian community.
Mayor Brenda Locke says the fund, which can be split up, is one of the largest in Canadian history. It was announced at a press conference on Monday, Sept. 15 at Surrey City Hall.
Twenty-seven shootings are connected to the 44.
A new Surrey Extortion Tip Line went live at noon Sept. 15, at 236-485-5149.
"I'm actually pretty angry that I have to be here today but it needs to be done as these extortions continue to disrupt peace," Locke said. "I know residents and business owners are deeply worried and rightfully so, by the extortions that continue to threaten our neighbourhoods, our businesses and our way of life. Many in our community right now are living in fear."
Locke said Surrey has also also upgraded more than 600 traffic intersection cameras to higher-resolution systems "to enhance overall public safety."
Surrey Police Service's Chief Constable Norm Lipinski explained that the reward fund is intended to motivate people to provide police with evidence leading to arrests, prosecutions and convictions.
"We have executed a number of search warrants and we have processed the related collection of evidence," he said. "But we need the public's help."
The fund is up to $250,000 but there may be people coming forward with "different levels" of information "and so there will be an assessment of that information and then the money will be assigned accordingly. If it's for a very small piece of information it could be $10,000, $20,000, $30,000..."
"It's a high number, it could be divided up many, many different ways.
Meantime, the Surrey Police Board heard at its September 11 board meeting that B.C. has the highest threshold for Crown Counsel charge approval in Canada coupled with police not being to lay charges themselves.
It also heard there has been "increased overt police presence where threats have occurred" in Surrey and there's been "in-person engagement" with representatives of more than 700 South Asian businesses here.
Deputy Chief Constable Michael Procyk noted the increase in extortion-related violence in Surrey "has been dramatic" and figures part of the increase in complaints is a result of the Surrey Police Service's public messaging campaign urging victims to report to police. "This is critical to assisting the police in responding and investigating and linking investigations together."
Similar crimes are being reported in Langley, Delta, Richmond, New Westminster "and certainly Abbotsford," Procyk told the board. "For that reason, we are working together closely with our partners. We also know that this is not just a B.C., this is an inter-provincial problem, Frankly agencies in Alberta and Ontario have seen this trend before we have experienced it.
"As we have seen in other jurisdictions, getting to the point of arrests and charges in extortion investigations are a massive challenge, especially in British Columbia," Procyk said. "We are one of the provinces that requires that the police cannot unilaterally charge on investigations; it has to go through a very robust process through the Crown and the Crown effects charges. And this process, although it certainly has certain benefits, it does delay charge approval and we have experienced that in some cases."
Bringing forward a case that meets the bar set by B.C. Crown Counsel to ensure a strong likelihood of conviction is a challenge, Procyk said, "but rest assured our investigators are working seven days a week on these files, all hours of the day and in different capacities using different techniques.
"For SPS, it's all hands on deck."
Lipinksi said the SPS's message to the community is "this will take some time, we are making advances, if you're subject to extortion report it. Number two is preserve the evidence, number three is do not pay and we will look towards putting together safety plans which we do for everybody and then we also in those specific occurrence where necessary, we go door-to-door in the neighbourhood as well and answer questions."
Director Rob Stutt, a Surrey city councillor, asked concerning Crown Counsel's high threshold for charges to be laid if there has been a report forwarded by police that hasn't been approved, Procyk replied at least one report has been forwarded to the Crown "and that's pending decisions. There's actually two, I would say that there's one relating to this series."
"I would suggest that this is the highest," Procyk said of B.C.'s threshold for charge approval. "In most provinces the police have the ability to lay their own charges."
Subsequently, Conservative MLAs Bryan Tepper (Surrey-Panorama) and Mandeep Dhaliwal (Surrey North) are calling on Premier David Eby to "immediately reform" B.C's charge approval system and fix a "critical shortage" of Crown prosecutors in Surrey.
“Premier Eby’s soft-on-crime approach has turned B.C. into a haven for criminals,” Tepper said in a press release. “Surrey’s families and small businesses face threats, extortion, and gunfire, but the SPS and RCMP are stuck waiting on Crown Counsel that Surrey doesn’t even have. Ontario’s police can lay charges directly; B.C. must adopt the same system for extortion cases immediately.”
The MLAs want police to have the ability to lay charges directly in extortion cases.
Dhaliwal echoed Tepper. "Criminals know they can act with impunity because of red tape and the lack of Crown counsel," he said. "The premier must lower the charge approval threshold for extortion offences now and give SPS and the RCMP the resources to act decisively.”
The board's next meeting is set for Oct. 9.
