Surrey Police Service issues open letter, describes ‘pressure’ on officers, wants end date

Almost a month after the province recommended that the City of Surrey continue with its transition away from the RCMP to a municipal policing force, the Surrey Police Service (SPS) is issuing an open letter Wednesday claiming the delays are having an impact on policing in the city.

It’s also issuing a demand — it wants to know the end date for the transition.

The letter, addressed to council and residents, says the SPS is “expressing concern” over the delays, and says it is having an impact on law enforcement personnel and “effective policing.”

In a one-on-one interview with CityNews, SPS Chief Const. Norm Lipinski thinks the province was clear about what it wants.

“I’ve got 400 employees, and I’ve got a couple of hundred officers on the frontline. And this is weighing heavily on everybody, including the RCMP.”

“We’re at a stage now where we recognize that the city has to look at the unredacted reports, we recognize that there has to be some analysis on the financial part of it.

“But what we would like also to see is some sort of end date, some objective that a decision would be made by a certain period of time, leaving it open is not in the best interest of my employees, the RCMP, and I would say even the citizens of Surrey,” he said.

This is the first time Lipinski has spoken publically since the province came out with its recommendation on April 28 to continue the policing transition.

However, some are wondering if this argument from Lipinski is just good PR for his police department.

“We’re very close and we want to travel that last 10 metres to the finish line. I think it’s fair to say that everybody has been very, very patient. And we do have a human factor here. We have people in the Surrey Police Service that moved from other parts of the country. They sold their homes, they bought homes here, they have mortgages, and there is uncertainty about their future.”

Lipinski was blunt when he admitted he’s getting pretty tired of the public debates and delays, but adds he hasn’t reached a breaking point.

“We are frustrated. I think everybody that’s involved in this is. I don’t think anybody envisioned four years ago that it would take this long.”

“It’s a very complicated process. There’s upwards of six agreements between various parties that have to be worked through. We have the different levels of government that have their own different timelines and decision-making. … We understand that we have to look at the report, the city has to look at the report unredacted and decisions have to be made, but we’d like to see it done in a timely fashion,” he asserted.

The chief stresses he’s not angry at city hall or Surrey Mayor Brenda Locke, who has been adamant in her position to keep the RCMP and scrap the SPS — a campaign promise that helped usher her into office last fall. He describes their relationship as “cordial,” and says the SPS is willing to make a presentation to council to show them what they can do.

When it comes to staffing levels, he says the SPS currently employs 400 people, adding it would be in a position to be the police of jurisdiction by January or February of 2024 — assuming it absorbs some members of the RCMP. Lipinksi adds the agency wouldn’t have adequate staffing levels for about two-and-a-half years after that.

“We’ve hired 333 police officers in two and a half years. We do not have a problem with recruiting. All across the country, all police agencies, certainly major police agencies, have a challenge with recruiting. We have a databank of upwards of 900 to a thousand applications. I think part of the reason is, that we are brand new, and people want to be part of something that is growing.

“They want to be part of an organization where they can put their thumbprint on it. So, for us looking towards the future of building up the organization upwards to 800 police officers, we don’t see that as a problem in the next couple of years. Not at all.”

Throughout the last four years, since former Surrey mayor Doug McCallum first announced the city was looking to move away from the RCMP, there has been continual back and forth and, in some cases, inaccurate numbers and statements.

Lipinski says people can trust his department, and he’s pleading with the public to read the province’s report on the transition, but he conceded it’s unlikely the average person will do that.

“We, as Surrey Police Service, report out on a monthly basis, the board meets, [and] I present reports to the board. I think moving forward, the transparency is so, so important and mostly in the area of finances. When we’re talking about police officers out in the community, I feel very confident we are establishing ourselves here after being on the street with 230 police officers.

“It’s fair to say that we have SPS legitimacy in the community. We respond to the calls with the RCMP, we work together with the RCMP, we take some calls, and they take some calls. And at the end of the day, I think the average citizen wants a police officer to come to their door when they have a need for policing, a matter to be resolved,” he said.

SPS open letter describes ‘pressure’ on officers and families

The letter from the force earlier Wednesday says that since August 2020, when the SPS was established as a “bona fide” police service in the province, “our organization and our employees have been under a cloud of uncertainty as various individuals and groups began to advocate for a reversal of the transition, resulting in our employees having the future of their jobs questioned both online and in person on a daily basis.”

“Despite this pressure, our employees … have continued to serve Surrey with professionalism,” the SPS said.

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The service says that pressure has weighed “heavily” on SPS members and their families, adding that as time goes on, “individuals who work in policing in Surrey are increasingly distracted by worries about their futures. As we have often said before, the physical and mental wellness of police officers and support staff is a critical element in their ability to effectively take care of the community.”

“SPS has done its best to stay out of the politics of this policing transition, however, as the delays continue and the merits of SPS are debated, we have to speak up. Policing is too consequential to the community and to our 400 employees for this debate to not include SPS’s voice. After almost three years of uncertainty – it is time for a clear and safe path forward for policing in Surrey,” the letter said.

Transition to SPS ensures ‘public safety’: Province

The letter comes as the province released its recommendation to continue the transition away from the RCMP on April 28. The province at that time said the transition to the SPS should continue because “it ensures public safety.”

“The people of Surrey are very frustrated by years of uncertainty over this debate, but we must move forward without reducing police presence when we need it the most,” Public Safety Minister and Solicitor General Mike Farnworth said at that time.

His decision came after a 500-page report based on plans submitted by the City of Surrey, the Surrey RCMP, and the Surrey Police Service. Due to understaffing and recruitment challenges, the province also said the City of Surrey and the RCMP’s plans to halt the transition were found to “present significant risk to adequate and effective levels of policing in Surrey and province.”

Earlier this month, Locke said she had yet to see the unredacted report, meanwhile, Coun. Linda Annis confirmed Wednesday she has signed a non-disclosure agreement to view the unredacted report.