Surrey councillors call for mayor to resign from police board
Posted September 14, 2023 9:41 am.
Last Updated September 14, 2023 9:43 am.
Two Surrey councillors are calling for Mayor Brenda Locke’s resignation from the city’s police board after she made what they say were disrespectful comments “to the dedicated men and women of the Surrey Police Service (SPS) and detrimental to the trust and unity for public safety within our community.”
Couns. Doug Elford and Mandeep Nagra say Locke’s comments regarding her lack of confidence in the Surrey Police Board and Chief Norm Lipinski are also “irresponsible.”
“Councillor Nagra and I wholeheartedly support our dedicated law enforcement officers and the exceptional leadership of Chief Constable Norm Lipinski. Their tireless efforts in building and transitioning the SPS are commendable,” Elford wrote in a statement Wednesday.
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“It is deeply disappointing to witness Mayor Locke undermining their work with her divisive and petty comments.”
Elford and Nagra are calling on B.C.’s Minister of Public Safety Mike Farnworth to “take immediate action” and remove Locke as chairperson of the SPS Police Board.
The councillors note that “the ‘Report of the Special Committee on Reforming the Police Act’ … which is aimed at improving police governance and accountability, recommends removing mayors from their positions as chairs of municipal police boards.”
The councillors say such a move would be in the “best interest of Surrey’s residents” and would help to prevent “public erosion of trust.”
“Mayor Locke’s irresponsible and petty comments clearly demonstrate that she is unfit to be a leader on the SPS board. Her complete lack of respect for the SPS Board and SPS over the past year as Mayor should leave no room for doubt; she should resign as chair of SPS board immediately,” Nagra wrote.
