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Fleetwood BIA raises concern about theft from autos

Surrey RCMP says the numbers dropped in November from October
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The Fleetwood Business Improvement Association has raised concern about theft from autos but the Surrey RCMP says the numbers dropped in November from October.

The BIA says it’s concerned about a “massive” spike in thefts from autos in District 2, which covers Guildford and Fleetwood. Dean Barbour, executive director of the Fleetwood Business Improvement Association, contacted the Now-Leader this week after seeing the Surrey RCMP’s monthly crime map for Nov. 1 to Nov. 30.

“This particular theft from auto was through the roof,” Barbour said. “This spike, it was extremely noticeable to our safety and security guy.”

The BIA, as a result, sent a public service announcement to its members. “We sent an email out to our 380 businesses, Barbour said. “We don’t want to raise the alarm that crime’s rampant but for us it was more of a, ‘Hey let’s get preventative and let’s get the information out there, to remind people as well, don’t be silly and leave your presents in your car or you’re not going to have a very merry Christmas.’”

According to Surrey RCMP Sergeant Chad Greig, theft from auto complaints in that district were “down six per cent in November from October, and overall for the year-to-day, we’re on a downward trend for the year.”

“That’s just for District 2,” he said. “Those are the stats that I have.”

“You see all those little triangles,” he said of the crime map. “Compared to October, that’s less, and like I said, year-to-date, we’re down.”

Comparing the first three quarters of 2017 with the same period in 2018, thefts from autos dropped from 1,256 to 1,148 in Guildford and Fleetwood, for a drop of nine per cent. Moreover, the entire city experienced an 11 per cent drop in theft from autos in the first three quarters of 2018 compared to the same period in 2o17, to 5,379 from 6,046.



tom.zytaruk@surreynowleader.com

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About the Author: Tom Zytaruk

I write unvarnished opinion columns and unbiased news reports for the Surrey Now-Leader.
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