Surrey debates police transition, again, at Monday’s council meeting

The controversial topic of keeping the RCMP in Surrey is set to be discussed at Monday’s council meeting. A report requested by the provincial government is what’s on the agenda.

The report outlines the process of moving away from the Surrey Police Service (SPS) and keeping the Mounties in town. It’s hoping the provincial government approves the idea by January, with the aim of “ramping down” the SPS by March.

“Together these budgets will allow for determination of the budget requirements for 2023, and more particularly any funding deviations from the current budget allocation for 2023 ($202.4 million) for policing operations,” says the report.

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Public Safety Minister Mike Farnworth said earlier this month the province will not be providing any money to support whatever the City of Surrey decides to do.

Should the province approve the plan to stop the transition, the city staff report finds the RCMP would have to hire 161 members to offset the current number of assigned officers from the SPS.

“This will be accomplished through multiple staffing processes and redundancies. To achieve this number by the end of 2023, if not sooner, the RCMP will predominantly focus on five target audiences: SPS officers deployed within the RCMP, SPS officers not deployed within the RCMP, SPS recruits, RCMP cadets, and other experienced police officers,” the report states.

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However, SPS union members have been clear about their commitment to the service, with 94 per cent previously pledging not to go to the RCMP if their department was dismantled.

“The RCMP will also honour existing agreements between the RCMP and the SPS to facilitate Justice Institute of British Columbia training requirements for the SPS recruits in progress. It will provide employment opportunities for these recruits to deploy as an RCMP member (following training equivalencies.)”

Two weeks ago, council voted to stop the transition, which was a big part of Mayor Brenda Locke’s election win last month. Former Mayor Doug McCallum introduced the idea to get rid of the RCMP four years ago.

The issue is being discussed ahead of council’s last vote on the plan which is slated for December 12th.

Surrey Police Chief Norm Lipinksi has previously stated it would be hard to dissolve the growing municipal force and estimated it could cost as much as $188 million to end the transition.