‘We live here. This is where we run our businesses’: Surrey extortion victim glad about community advisory committee

A Surrey radio host and extortion victim says that establishing a community advisory board to combat the extortion crisis is a step in the right direction.

B.C. Premier David Eby said on Wednesday that the advisory committee will help tackle extortion threats by launching direct communication channels with police leadership and people with lived experience of the crisis.

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Jinny Sims is a radio host at Radio Swift 1200 AM in Surrey, which was targeted by gunshots last year.

She says that connecting victims with investigators is a crucial connection that police have neglected so far.

She claims that police do not accurately reflect the victims’ situations and, in some cases, even feel abandoned by the authorities.

Sims tells 1130 NewsRadio that she has heard from other victims in the community that the police are suggesting leaving town, hiring a private security guard, or increasing the number of cameras.

“So, you want me to hire a security guard who is unarmed to sit in a car outside of my house when I know my house is going to be shot at? And what you’re saying is you want me to put that person’s life at risk?” she said.

“People are feeling that we pay our taxes. We live here. This is where we run our businesses. How long can we hide for?”

However, she hopes that the community advisory committee is a silver lining and could actually help solve that problem.

“They now feel that there is a plan that is going to be coordinated, that is going to involve the city council, the mayor, that is going to involve all the agencies, and there is going to be greater collaboration.”

This hope is also shared on the police’s side.

Surrey Police Service Chief Norm Lipinski says that community voices are essential to informing the police response to the crisis.

He hopes that the committee will vitalize the dialogue between both sides and the fight against extortion.

With files from Srushti Gangdev.