B.C. suspends Surrey Police Board, appoints administrator

The province has suspended the Surrey Police Board and appointed an administrator to help move the transition from the RCMP to a municipal force along.

Public Safety Minister and Solicitor General Mike Farnworth says Mike Serr, a former Abbotsford Police chief, will serve as administrator to perform the functions of the Surrey Police Board and help with the police transition.

The board’s chair is Mayor Brenda Locke, who has been fighting the transition since she took office, vowing to keep the RCMP as the police of jurisdiction.

“Mike Serr is the police board — the administrator assumes all the functions of the police board,” Farnworth affirmed Thursday. “He is the one who will be dealing with the budget for the Surrey Police Service.”

The functions of the board include employing all sworn and civilian staff of SPS, setting policy and providing direction to the chief constable, overseeing the budget for SPS, and being the authority for service or policy complaints against the municipal police force.

Farnworth says the board members will be able to resume their roles once Serr’s “appointment concludes.”

“This appointment was made under Section 8 of the Police Amendment Act, 2023, after careful consideration of the work by the Surrey Police Board, which has been limited due to the lack of progress from the City of Surrey in advancing the police model transition to the SPS,” Farnworth said in a statement Thursday.

“This need was identified by Jessica McDonald as the strategic implementation adviser in the course of her work on the transition and numerous meetings with key parties, subject matter experts, and stakeholders.”

SPS Chief Norm Lipinski says he thanks board members for their work over the past three years, adding they have “done an enormous amount of work to get Surrey Police Service to the point it is at today.”

“The work of good governance can be thankless, but strong policies, clear organizational direction, and transparent financial oversight are critical to both the organization and the public. I thank the Surrey Police Board members for their leadership, expertise, and resilience, and I look forward to working with them again, once their appointments resume,” Lipinski continued.

The police chief says he is “confident that Serr will play a critical role in helping to expedite the policing transition with this streamlining of governance decisions for Surrey Police Service. I look forward to working with him.”

Surrey Police Board ‘respects’ B.C. decision

Meanwhile, Surrey Police Board Executive Director Melissa Granum tells CityNews the board “respects the decision of government.”

“The administrator will take on the full duties and responsibilities of the Board as described in the Police Act. This is a temporary pause for the Board and their current cabinet appointments remain in effect,” she said.

Granum would not provide any further comment.

Farnworth says he is thankful to members of the board, saying each person “has done their best through what has been unique, challenging, and complicated circumstances.”

Surrey Mayor Brenda Locke calls the move ‘nothing short of a provincial police takeover’

Surrey Mayor Brenda Locke issued a statement on Thursday afternoon saying the move to suspend the Surrey Police Board and put an administrator in its place is “nothing short of a provincial police takeover.”

She explains that the decision was made after zero consultation with the city.

“Not only is the Province attempting to force Surrey into an expensive police transition and a double-digit tax hike, but now they are taking control of policing away from the duly elected government to force through their expensive, disorganized, and flawed plan,” she said.

“The Minister needs to stop playing the blame game and take responsibility for lack of proper oversight and due diligence.”

Locke is also doubling down and saying she will continue opposing the transition to the SPS due to “extraordinary” costs for taxpayers in the city, further claiming the SPS provides no additional public safety benefit.

Locke says the transition would cost Surrey taxpayers a minimum of $464 million over the next 10 years.

This is the latest in the ongoing controversial police transition, which was first set in motion by then-Mayor Doug McCallum five years ago.

In July, Farnworth directed the city to continue with its transition to the Surrey Police Service, despite council voting a month prior to stick with the RCMP. In addition to his decision, Farnworth said he would bring in legislation to prevent a similar back and forth from ever playing out again. That legislation was introduced in October.

“By appointing Mike Serr as administrator for the Surrey Police Board, I am taking action to help move forward the transition to completion.”

Serr served as chief constable of the Abbotsford Police Department from 2018 until his retirement this fall.

He started his policing career with the Vancouver Police Department in 1990 and moved to the APD five years later.