On Sunday, August 25, 2019, Surrey RCMP evacuated the busy Central City mall. Hundreds of people were forced to leave the mall and police tape was put up across entrances. Yet a day later no detailed explanation has been provided by police for their actions. Once again the community is left without basic information or explanation as police control what the public will be allowed to know.
CTV Vancouver reports this:
Police
confirmed the evacuation Sunday afternoon, saying that they were called to the
scene for a “public safety matter” at one of the larger retailers in the mall.
Asked
for more details about the nature of the issue, police declined to comment,
saying they couldn't identify the specific store because that store was a
victim. (Holliday CTV News)
This is somewhat contradictory. If it was a “public safety
matter” than the public deserves to know the nature of the safety issue, what
it involved, what was done to resolve it, and why. Yet based on news reports,
the RCMP say it was actually a private business security matter. The RCMP acting
as corporate security for a large retailer. They even suggest that this private
(not public) matter is their reason for not saying more publicly.
There have been too many police actions in Surrey in which
RCMP refuse to provide proper information to the public. This includes a school
evacuation last year in which a school official reported at a Parent Advisory
Committee meeting that the RCMP knew there was no reasonable threat yet decided
to take advantage of a situation to do a practice run for their gang response teams.
These sorts of actions allow police to ramp up public panics
and manipulate fear politics. All toward the end of more dependence on police. Another
way in which Surrey residents are not well served by policing in our city.
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