Surrey First mayoral candidate wants 300 more police officers

A hopeful mayoral candidate for Surrey is pledging to hire 300 new police officers if he wins the race come Oct. 15.

Gordie Hogg, Surrey First candidate, says he promises to not only hire the new officers, but to get “voters all the facts” about a transition from the RCMP to the Surrey Police Service so “they can make the choice about who should police British Columbia’s second-largest city.”

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In a statement Tuesday, Surrey First says current Mayor Doug McCallum hasn’t hired any new police officers since elected in 2018, even as the city’s population grows by about 1,000 people per month, according to the party.

“Surrey residents deserve to know all of the facts about the police transition, and what it would take to complete the process,” Hogg said. “They should be the ones deciding who polices their community. At the same time, we need 300 new officers to give police the resources and people they need to keep Surrey safe.”

Hogg is a former South Surrey-White Rock MP, was also the MLA for Surrey-White Rock, and served as mayor of White Rock before that. Surrey First also includes current city Councillor Linda Annis.

At a cost of over $15 million per year over four years, Hogg wants to hire the new officers regardless of their badge, whether it’s RCMP or SPS.

“Every new officer costs Surrey about $200,000 annually in terms of salary, benefits, pension, and equipment,” added Hogg. “Surrey has 85 per cent of Vancouver’s population and has just
843 officers while Vancouver has more than 1,400. Geographically, Surrey is as big as Vancouver, Burnaby and Richmond combined, and our population is continuing to grow. New officers are an absolute must for this city.”

Hogg says as Surrey’s population is closing in on 600,000 people, public safety is “critical” to every neighbourhood in the city.

“I started my career as a youth probation officer in Whalley,” noted Hogg. “I know firsthand the importance of good public safety programs and the police officers to help make it work.
We need some fact-based straight talk about public safety and the price tag that comes with keeping Surrey safe, regardless of the colour of the uniform.”

Surrey-Newton MP Sukh Dhaliwal, Surrey-Panorama MLA Jinny Sims, and City Councillor Brenda Locke are also challenging McCallum for the mayor’s seat.

Voters head to the polls on Saturday, Oct. 15.