Increasingly brazen extortion attempts against business people of South Asian background are raising many concerns.
A public safety forum on the issue June 15, reported on by Tricia Leslie of Peace Arch News and Anna Burns of Surrey Now-Leader, attracted numerous politicians and civic leaders. Garry Begg, minister of public safety and MLA for Surrey-Guildford, provincial opposition leader John Rustad, Surrey-Newton MP Sukh Dhaliwal and Surrey Mayor Brenda Locke were among them.
At least 10 incidents of extortion have taken place in Surrey over the past six months, Surrey Police Chief Norm Lipinski told the forum, organized by SHIELD (Supporting Harmful Intimidation and Extortion Through Discussion). Surrey Police is working with other regional and national police agencies on the issue, as extortion attempts against South Asian business people have also taken place in other parts of Canada.
One case involved two separate incidents of shots fired at a home in Panorama Ridge in May. On June 11, Abbotsford resident Satwinder Sharma was shot and killed during daylight hours in Surrey. Forum organizer Salish Kumar said the killing was extortion-related, although police have not yet confirmed that.
Kumar’s own businesses have been shot at and he has received numerous threats. He showed images of the threats he had received. One stated “You’re not replying, right. Now you’re going to die. You’re next. You will be killed.” In another message, he was told he had to pay $2 million to end the threats.
Begg said the province is taking the threats seriously and is devoting time and resources to dealing with them, through police agencies and various co-ordination efforts with other agencies.
Locke disagreed. She said the province needs to do much more, and said the ongoing challenge of transitioning to Surrey Police is at least partially related to the threats.
“This is very specifically a direct message to the province, and it is a message to the premier and to you, minister Begg: Policing in Surrey is at risk today. It is not an experiment. We are not getting the kind of service and attention that we need in order to keep our citizens safe.”
There is no doubt that many people feel frightened. All the speakers emphasized to need to report any such incidents. The more information that police have (and the more quickly it is relayed), the better.
Dealing with shadowy criminals who do much of their threatening via social media and text messages is not easy. However, co-ordinated police action can make a difference.
Locke also said that individuals who are threatened deserve police protection, and there should be an audit of the Surrey police transition on organized crime activity, set up jointly by the federal and provincial governments. She called for quick decision-making and an end to barriers between various police agencies tasked with dealing with the extortion threats.
This is a serious matter. We all know that criminals live and work in this community, and target those whom they feel are vulnerable. It is up to citizens to report anything they are suspicious of, and up to police and the three levels of government that fund them to try to get to the bottom of these threats.
Frank Bucholtz writes twice monthly on political issues for Black Press Media publications.
