The mayor of Surrey unveiled on Monday an ambitious new strategy to fight crime in the city, but without any announcement of new funding to support it.

The strategy includes a plan to install surveillance cameras around the city.

Surrey Mayor Dianne Watts says she is using a new approach to deal with the city's crime.
(CBC)

Mayor Dianne Watts was joined by B.C. Attorney General Wally Oppal and local officials to make the announcement.

"The Surrey Crime Reduction Strategy is a complete paradigm shift from what is currently being done in Canadian municipalities to combat crime," Watts said.

Traditionally, she said, the city would deal with certain issues, while the provincial and federal governments would tackle others.
 
"It needs to be one unified comprehensive strategy, with all of these pieces in place, so instead of having a scattergun approach, throughout the entire city, we're pulling these pieces and everyone together."

Watts described a four-pronged plan that will:

• Prevent and deter crime.
• Apprehend and prosecute offenders.
• Rehabilitate and reintegrate offenders.
• Emphasize the reality as opposed to people's perceptions of crime in Surrey.

She said in the upcoming year, Surrey will seek to:

• Develop a strategy for using surveillance cameras in the city.
• Establish community drug-action teams.
• Establish "prolific offender" management teams.
• Establish community action groups.
• Establish a homelessness and housing foundation.
• Expand the crime-free, multi-housing program.
• Develop a crime-reduction strategy website.
• Work with the private sector to add to the city's affordable housing stock.

Surrey's new approach to crime and drugs is based on strategies developed in the United Kingdom and New York.

Watts travelled to both places to study how they have reduced their crime rates.