SURREY MAYOR TALKS TOUGH ON CRIME

McCallum Seeks Re-Election On Law, Order Platform

Repeat car thieves should be automatically sent to jail and there should be
special courts to sentence drug addicts more quickly, Surrey Mayor Doug
McCallum says in his re-election platform.

Crime is a major issue in the municipal election campaign in Surrey, and
the focus of McCallum's bid for another term as mayor is five
get-tough-on-crime measures.

"We have a very, very serious problem with auto thefts," he said. "Over the
next three years we want to ... be a lot more proactive and aggressive at
driving crime out."

McCallum's comments this week come on the heels of criticism he faced last
month that he tried to play down Surrey's title as North America's car
theft capital and that he lobbied the RCMP to stop painting Surrey in a
negative light in police news releases.

Thursday he said that if he is re-elected, city hall will have a better
relationship with police in an effort to reduce crime in Surrey.

"You're probably going to see a lot better communication, a lot better
cooperation, between the city and the RCMP," said McCallum, who is running
under the Surrey Electors Team banner.

"I've already said I felt bad for anyone that felt offended, and I have to
change my communication ways ... But I think we will change to the better."

There is criticism of some of McCallum's election promises, specifically
that they are not realistic or that he doesn't have the jurisdiction to
follow through with them.

But McCallum defends his five-pillar crime-and-safety platform, which includes:

- - A three-strikes-and-you're-out law for auto thieves, which would see
offenders with three convictions automatically sentenced to provincial
prison time, meaning a sentence of not more than two years less a day.

"We will work with the provincial government extremely hard to convince the
courts that once a person gets convicted three times that they should be
sent to jail," he said.

McCallum argued that a small number of car thieves are responsible for the
majority of auto thefts and, although federal prisons are full, there is
room in provincial jails to house more offenders.

- - Lobbying the provincial government for a special prosecutor to handle
only auto theft cases in Surrey court. "He'll be a lot more knowledgeable.
He'll be able to convince the judges that this person after three times,
for instance, should be put away for a while," McCallum said.

- - Establishing a drug court in Surrey, which McCallum said the city can do
once the province passes the community charter next spring. He said Surrey
has to "break the chain" of drug addicts committing property crimes to get
money to buy their fix.

"The judges will be dealing with a single item -- drugs -- so there is
quicker sentencing and therefore the quicker the message will get out there
that we're not going to allow this type of drug situation," McCallum said.

- - Hiring 60 new RCMP officers over the next three years.

- - Building a new community policing station in Guildford, which could cost
about $400,000 if an existing building is used and $2 million to $3 million
if a new one is constructed.

Prominent Vancouver defence lawyer Michael Tammen challenged of several of
McCallum's court-related initiatives. He said McCallum would have to appeal
to Ottawa, not Victoria, to bring in a three-strikes rule.

"He's lobbying in the wrong place. He's got to go to Parliament. It would
take a Criminal Code revision to do that," said Tammen, who is a defence
lawyer in the high-profile Air India case.

"All he's trying to do is just draw attention to the problem and, probably
inappropriately, trying to influence the judiciary that sits in Surrey."

Tammen said studies are inconclusive about whether harsher sentences deter
people from committing more crimes.

And he contradicts McCallum's statement that there is room in provincial
jails for more offenders.

"He's going against the grain of where Parliament is right now," Tammen
said. "Parliament has specifically said our jails are overcrowded and we
want to have less people in jail, and to think of alternative sentencing
measures."

Tammen also questioned whether McCallum's version of a drug court would
follow Vancouver's lead, which is to focus on treatment rather than punishment.

"It's not about locking them up and throwing away the key," he said. "It's
an addiction, as opposed to a criminal, problem."

Geoffrey Gaul, who speaks for the Crown's office, said there is a special
auto theft prosecutor who has worked on stolen car cases across B.C. for
the last few years. He said it is unlikely that Surrey will get its own.

"He covers the entire province, so he works with the auto theft task
force," Gaul said. "So, strictly for Surrey will there be a designated
Crown? No because we already have one for the entire province."

In order to hire 60 new RCMP officers, Surrey city council would have to
approve the funding for 70 per cent of the cost and then the province would
have to agree to pay the other 30 per cent, said Constable Danielle Efford,
who speaks for the RCMP in B.C.

Then the RCMP must get the new officers trained.

"It's not like they've got 60 people right there that they can
automatically plunk into Surrey right away," Efford said.

Bob Bose, a Surrey city councillor who is McCallum's main challenger for
the mayor's seat, said he agrees Surrey needs more police officers. But he
argued that the number to be hired must be decided by the newly elected
council once it begins to deliberate the next budget.

He also accused McCallum of cutting funding to the RCMP during his time in
office and by so doing allowing the detachment to become "woefully
understaffed."

Bose also criticized McCallum's plan to lobby for a three-strikes law for
car thieves.

"The mayor has nothing to do with it -- this is an issue for the courts,"
said Bose, who was pushed out of the mayor's chair by McCallum in the 1996
election. "Cities cannot encroach upon federal jurisdiction ... it would
create chaos."

Bose said crime is a major issue in Surrey, but his election promise is to
have the next council meet with fire and police officials to determine what
their departments need to better serve the city.

"I think in Canada we understand incarceration is not the first option,"
said Bose, who is running as an independent candidate endorsed by the
Surrey Community Coalition. "Throwing young people who are auto thieves
into prisons just makes hardened criminals out of them."

Rather than a drug court, Bose argued Surrey needs a bylaw court to deal
specifically with traffic fines and parking tickets.

McCallum has a long list of crime deterrents he would like to pursue, such
as asking the superintendent of motor vehicles to prohibit teenage car
thieves from getting driver's licences until they are 21 years old.

"We are working on a number of things that are a first in Canada to see if
we can cut back on auto theft, for example," he said. "We think we'll be
successful in driving crime down."