Crime in Cloverdale is relatively low compared to other parts of Surrey, said Acting Sgt. Winston Shorey of the Surrey RCMP’s District 4 Cloverdale/Port Kells.
While it’s a benefit, Shorey told the members of the Cloverdale Business Improvement Association at the Annual General Meeting on Feb. 23 that “there is still a lot of police work for us to do here which allows us to take a more proactive approach to the policing we’re doing.”
Shorey said a big focus of what the RCMP is working on is targeting prolific offenders or problem residents.
By working with bylaws, the fire department and property owners, Shorey said the RCMP has engaged about six or seven problem properties.
“They tend to harbour criminals and criminal activity. So that’s a big focus for us. We’re very pleased with that. We’ve had some solid arrests. We’re seeing numbers.”
The district is seeing double-digit reductions in residential break and enters this past year.
“I look at that, for sure, as being a good sense of what’s happening in the community. [Break and enters] are on the fall. We’re going to continue here.”
Shorey added that there has been a spike in car thefts in the area, but the RCMP is on top of it.
“There are multiple teams engaged with it right now,” he said. “We know who the offenders are and there have been significant targeting tactics put in place to deal with this offenders.”
Shorey, who took over the role of Community Response Unit Sergeant after Sgt. Dan Gibbons retired in January, said he’s been going around to businesses and introducing himself to the community.
“You all know where the community policing office is. It is a community policing office. We invite the community to come and participate in that.”
