Police cars and yellow tape block 112B Street after a deadly shooting in Surrey on January 15, 2013. Photograph by: Wayne Leidenfrost , PNG

SURREY – New Democrat Public Safety spokesperson Mike Farnworth is calling on the B.C. Liberal government to  finally take real action after RCMP statistics show another large jump in violent crime in Surrey over last year.

“Data released today by the Surrey RCMP show that violent crime is now up 40 per cent over last year with a whopping 188-per-cent increase in attempted murder,” said Farnworth.

“But residents of Surrey don’t need statistics to know they are living through a crisis in public safety. They unfortunately have seen the evidence of gun and gang violence all around them, in bullet-riddled schools and cases of homeowners being forced to defend their own houses.”

The Surrey RCMP posted the third quarter crime statistics report on their website. The report found that along with the near tripling of attempted murders in Surrey, there were also large increases in robbery, assaults, sexual assaults, and kidnappings.

“Ensuring the public safety of its citizens is one of the most fundamental duties of the provincial government, and New Democrats have offered concrete solutions but the B.C. Liberals’ response has been entirely inadequate, making the occasional piecemeal announcement but failing to take real action. “

“The people of Surrey deserve better than a government that treats an increasing wave of violence as status quo. ”