SURREY PLANS TO ATTACK CRIME

Mayor To Unveil New Strategy Today -- Which Is Inspired By The U.K.'S
Crime Reduction Program

Residents of Surrey can expect crime in their city to drop by 25 per
cent or more as the city launches a crime-reduction strategy unlike
anything ever attempted in Canada, a leading criminologist predicted Sunday.

Surrey Mayor Dianne Watts is scheduled to unveil the new strategy --
which is inspired by the United Kingdom's crime-reduction program --
at a news conference this morning.

Darryl Plecas, a professor of criminology at the University College
of the Fraser Valley, has spent years studying the U.K. model and
advised Watts on it.

He said Surrey is going further than any other North American city in
adopting the U.K. approach -- which has led to a nearly 50-per-cent
drop in crime there over the past decade.

"This is the single best public safety initiative ever in Canada and
we can expect crime to drop dramatically," said Plecas. "I would be
very, very confident that ... you will see a 25-per-cent drop over
the next couple of years."

Plecas said the key to the U.K. strategy is making sure all
government agencies -- from police to drug-treatment counsellors --
work together to reduce crime.

In an interview Sunday, Watts said a wide variety of people have been
involved in crafting Surrey's crime-fighting plan.

"There were over a hundred people in 50 different organizations [and]
three levels of government, all participating in the strategy," she
said. "It's quite a comprehensive strategy that we've pulled together."

She visited both the U.K. and New York City over the past year to see
their programs first-hand.

Watts refused to reveal Sunday exactly what the city's strategy will contain.

But she acknowledged "there are some key components of the U.K.
strategy as well as some of the things we learned in New York as well."

In the past year, Watts has expressed support for several
crime-fighting measures, including:

- - Closed-circuit television cameras in crime "hot spots."

- - Community courts, similar to those in place in New York, that help
direct criminals into drug treatment, housing assistance and job training.

- - More drug-treatment and social housing in Surrey.

Surrey also posted a job in December for a crime reduction strategy
manager who would, according to the job posting, "be responsible for
conducting research, analysing data, developing an effective strategy
and related operational plans and then assisting with implementing
the strategy."

Some of the initiatives Watts supports -- such as community courts --
are outside municipal jurisdiction.

Last August, she met with Prime Minister Stephen Harper to seek
federal support for her plan.

And B.C. Attorney-General Wally Oppal is scheduled to join Watts at
this morning's news conference.

But while support from other levels of government is important, said
Watts, she thinks municipal governments should take the lead in fighting crime.

"There's a significant amount that local government can do," she
said. "And I do believe that it's our job as local government to
facilitate a lot of this and bring the partners around the table."

Watts's promise to adopt a new crime-reduction strategy was a key
part of her 2005 mayoral campaign, when she defeated incumbent Doug McCallum.

In 2005, the most recent year for which data is available, Surrey had
8,233 thefts from motor vehicles, 6,086 vehicles stolen and 5,393
break-ins -- giving it one of the highest crime rates in the Lower Mainland.

Crime Fighter

Surrey Mayor Dianne Watts's plan to tackle crime in Surrey includes:

- - Surveillance cameras in crime 'hot spots'

- - Community courts

- - Drug treatment and social housing