Surrey Police Service to replace RCMP in November

The Surrey Police Service will officially replace the RCMP in the city on Nov. 29, the province announced.

Public Safety Minister and Attorney General Mike Farnworth confirmed the date of the change on Tuesday, after promising to give a firm timeline for the transfer of jurisdiction.

“This date was identified after careful consideration of public safety, the progress made to date and the important work currently underway to finalize the transition,” said Farnworth, joined by commanding officers from the Surrey Police Service and the BC RCMP.

“The BC RCMP will continue to operate in Surrey, providing temporary support to the Surrey Police Service until the transition is complete.”

Farnworth says officials, both federal and provincial, have worked to “find a path forward that will allow the RCMP to provide these transitional supports” to the SPS when the department takes over.

“To be clear, this path will not require provincial or federal legislative processes or amendments. The agreed path is consistent with the existing legislative framework and can occur in a way that does not require the RCMP to delegate its authorities or be under the command of another police agency. Rather, the two police agencies will work together under a collaboration agreement,” the minister explained.

“In the coming weeks, I will be issuing notice to the City of Surrey that it will be terminating the city’s Municipal Police Unit Agreement with the province for the use of the RCMP as its police jurisdiction. At the same time, the Surrey RCMP Municipal Police Unit will be removed from the province’s Police Agreement with the federal government.”

“This will effectively transfer responsibility for policing and policing in Surrey from the RCMP to the Surrey Police Service. This will also satisfy the requirement of Section 7 of the Police Amendment Act 2023 that the City of Surrey provide its police and law enforcement services through a municipal police department, the Surrey Police Service ”Farnworth continued.

This marks another milestone in a process that has been marred by controversy. There have been years of back and forth, and current Surrey Mayor Brenda Locke continues to push against the police transition.

SPS Police Chief Norm Lipinski says his members are prepared.

“Currently, we have a total of 428 employees, 367 sworn officers and 61 civilians. With today’s announcement, our hiring will increase,” Lipinski said. “It is important to note that our hiring will continue to be aligned with the police staffing numbers outlined in the City of Surrey’s five-year financial plan.”

BC RCMP Deputy Commissioner Dwayne McDonald says throughout the process, the priority for officers will continue to be maintaining public safety.

“The RCMP is committed to working closely with the Government of British Columbia, Public Safety Canada, the Surrey Police Service and the City of Surrey, as we identify and advance the work needed to reach this next milestone in November. This includes identifying the details of the necessary transitional supports and working on the Operational Assistance and Cooperation Agreement,” he explained.

The British Columbia government has provided $150 million to help the city transition to SPS, funding the city has rejected. Despite this, Farnworth has said that the money will be applied directly to the transition process.

As Surrey’s current mayor and council continue to fight the transition out of the RCMP, their legal challenge to the process will begin in court on April 29.

On Monday, Locke used the city’s budget passage to suggest that paying for SPS has limited the ability to execute new projects.

“As much as we are doing, we wish we could do more. We have been prudent and kept costs as low as possible. The new revenue has helped, but we have also decided not to pursue other spending priorities,” Locke said in a statement.

“The fact is that the Surrey Police Service is putting financial pressure on our ability to deliver new projects, not to mention SPS went over budget by more than $22 million in 2023.”

The idea for SPS was proposed in 2018 by then-Surrey Mayor Doug McCallum.

Current Mayor Brenda Locke is adamantly against it and was elected to office on a promise to keep the RCMP.

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