Surrey city council has voted, behind closed doors, to maintain the RCMP as the city’s police force and to dissolve the Surrey Police Board, Mayor Brenda Locke announced Friday at a short media conference.
“The return to normalcy will take time, it will take commitment and it will take professionalism,” said Locke.
The vote took place in-camera, meaning debate and details of reports overseen by council members cannot be disclosed, said Locke. The councillors reviewed a provincial government report that was unredacted, following the signing of a non-disclosure agreement.
Locke did not disclose the exact vote on the matter and was repeatedly asked to explain why the vote itself would not, or could not be disclosed. Locke only reiterated that the entirety of the closed-door meeting could not be divulged other than the vote outcome.
Council was given the option by Minister of Public Safety and Solicitor General Mike Farnworth to maintain the Surrey RCMP or continue in the process to transition to a municipal force, the Surrey Police Service (SPS).
With the understanding that cities may choose the means by which they are policed, Farnworth had to the city it continue with the SPS and said the province would provide financial support to deal with cost overruns not previously contemplated by former mayor Doug McCallum, Locke’s political opponent who spearheaded the transition in 2018.
Farnworth's report from the deputy minister of police services stated continuing with the SPS transition would be the "safest path forward" and that reverting back to the RCMP would cost the city around $72 million in severance.
Locke said she spoke to Farnworth and Premier David Eby and said she was “satisfied they are prepared to work in the spirit of cooperation” in dissolving the SPS.
Questions remain as to how the de-transition will occur. Locke said the RCMP has assured the city it can re-staff the roughly 220 SPS officers (as of April) who are working alongside the Surrey RCMP during this interim phase, until the SPS was to take over as the official "police of jurisdiction."
Farnworth has stipulated the RCMP cannot take officers from other B.C. detachments should the de-transition plan be approved. Farnworth has stated his mandate is to ensure cities are adequately policed and Surrey must follow certain conditions to maintain the RCMP.
Following Locke’s announcement, Farnworth said a “two-stage process” in any de-transition will require his approval and must meet the requirements he previously set out to the city. He said he will review a City of Surrey report on the de-transition plan that has been sent to his ministry under a non-disclosure agreement.
The minister said the plan needs to address public safety so as not to “quickly destabilize the policing situation in Surrey,” should the RCMP not be able to replace any SPS officers who depart.
“I understand the frustration of the people of Surrey,” said Farnworth of the delays in coming to a final resolution.“The City of Surrey wants this resolved, I want it resolved.”
Farnworth also said the ministry’s non-disclosure agreement did not force the council to vote in-camera.
Farnworth was unable to state how many SPS officers are presently under RCMP command.
After Farnworth spoke, Surrey RCMP Assistant Commissioner Brian Edwards, who heads the force, said at a press conference at the Surrey RCMP headquarters that 176 SPS officers are under command, leaving 544 Mounties remaining, from the 734 officer detachment.
Edwards said the RCMP is "fully prepared" to re-staff the detachment with Mounties, by way of SPS transfers, new cadets and out-of-province RCMP transfers. His staffing plan is contained in the City of Surrey's de-transition plan.
In total, Surrey RCMP needs to find 190 more officers. Edwards said he has not actively recruited SPS officers but 12 are in the process of moving over voluntarily and 81 have voluntarily expressed interest. Edwards said teh goal is to retain as many SPS officers, should the de-transition plan be approved.
Edwards said there is no minimum amount of officers needed to determine what a safe level of policing is. Surrey has not added new officers to its detachment since McCallum put a freeze on hiring. Nevertheless, Edwards said overall crime levels are trending downward.
SPS Chief Norm Lipinski expressed disappointment in council’s decision.
“While the City has rendered its decision, it is important to note that the Minister of Public Safety and Solicitor General has not yet approved a transition back to the RCMP,” said Lipinski in a statement.
Speaking to Glacier Media, Lipinski said a de-transition is “extremely precarious” as SPS cannot stop any person from quitting. He noted many officers have uprooted their families on the understanding the transition was approved, which it had been before Locke ran for office on a promise to halt it.
In a de-transition scenario, officers who do not quit and who do not switch to Surrey RCMP will presumably get 18 months of severance. A constable with four years of experience earns $108,000 and after 10 years the rate is $113,000; sergeants earn $129,000.
Lipinski said he and SPS are committed to ensuring public safety is maintained in either scenario.
SPS has 400 employees, including about 150 officers not deployed. As such, the city is on the hook for salaries and operational costs of about $8 million per month not initially presented to the public.
Lipinski has spent the past four years drafting policies and procuring equipment for operations, which he says could be launched in one year. However, the provincial government has directed SPS to transition more slowly over three years, from last January.
He says if Farnworth overturns council’s vote, Mounties would be gone from Surrey by 2026.
Meanwhile, other stakeholders began to react.
Surrey First Coun. Linda Annis said the decision process is “an insult” to the people of Surrey.
“The in-camera meeting meant there was absolutely no transparency around this incredibly important issue,” said Annis. “Councillors were only told late Wednesday about the in-camera meeting, when we were handed a 400-page city staff report and given only hours to read it. No transparency, no community involvement, no agreement between the city and the province on the facts. It was followed by yesterday’s rushed in-camera meeting that muzzled all of us who were there."
Meanwhile, Surrey Board of Trade CEO Anita Huberman said it was "pleased with the final decision to retain the Surrey RCMP as Surrey’s public safety infrastructure.”
