Surrey Police Service

Last updated

Surrey Police Service
Surrey Police Service.svg
Badge of the Surrey Police Service
Common nameSurrey Police
AbbreviationSPS
MottoSafer. Stronger. Together.
Agency overview
FormedAugust 6, 2020 [1] [2]
Employees399 [3]
Annual budget$184.1m [4]
Jurisdictional structure
Operations jurisdictionSurrey, British Columbia, Canada
Size316.41 square kilometres (122.17 sq mi)
Population517,887
Governing body Surrey Police Board
Constituting instrument
General nature
Operational structure
Headquarters14355 57 Avenue
Sworn Officers337 [3]
Civilians62 [3]
Elected officers responsible
  • Hon. Mike Farnworth, Minister of Public Safety and Solicitor General of British Columbia
  • Her Worship Brenda Locke, Mayor & Chair of the Surrey Police Board (currently suspended)
Agency executives
Website
www.surreypolice.ca

The Surrey Police Service (SPS) is a municipal police force in the city of Surrey, British Columbia, Canada. It is one of several police departments within the Metro Vancouver Regional District, [5] and as of December 2022, the second largest municipal police service in British Columbia. Prior to the SPS's establishment, Surrey was Canada's largest city without a municipal police service. [6] The RCMP (a federal agency) currently have policing jurisdiction in Surrey, and Surrey's present mayor is resisting the transition to a municipal police force. [6]

Contents

History

Surrey maintained a municipal police department until May 1, 1951, when policing duties were contracted out to the RCMP under a Police Service Agreement. [7] [8] During Doug McCallum's first stint as mayor (1996-2005), Surrey City Council considered re-establishing a municipal police service in response to low RCMP staffing, but ultimately remained with the RCMP due to the high cost of establishing a police force. [9] On November 5, 2018, during McCallum's second stint as mayor, the council members (including Brenda Locke) approved a motion to replace Surrey RCMP with a new municipal police force and started the termination process of its Police Service Agreement with the RCMP. [10] On February 27, 2020, Mike Farnworth, Minister of Public Safety and Solicitor General, approved the creation of the Surrey Police Board, responsible for overseeing the Surrey Police Service; and the Board appointed the first chief constable, Norm Lipinski, in November of that year. [11] [12]

In November 2021, the first Surrey Police Service officers were deployed alongside Surrey RCMP officers. [13]

On March 10, 2022, a Surrey Police officer was stabbed and wounded during an arrest. [14]

On February 8, 2023, a Surrey Police officer facing an investigation into text messages he had been exchanging with a 15-year-old girl took his own life in a Langley gun range. [15] The officer had been suspended and criminal charges had been pending at the time of his death. [16]

Attempted reversal to RCMP contract policing

After the 2022 Surrey Mayoral Election, Brenda Locke was elected as mayor of Surrey, narrowly beating out incumbent Doug McCallum. [17] During the campaigns, pro-RCMP groups endorsed Locke, as she was the only candidate out of five mayoral candidates with the platform to disband Surrey Police Service and revert to RCMP contract policing. [18] [19] After being elected, Locke's council voted 6–3 to stop and reverse the transition, but under provincial law, the transition could not be halted until the province approved the reversal plan. [20] The city's ethics commissioner later ruled that during this vote, Councillor Rob Stutt violated the council's code of conduct by failing to disclose a conflict of interest. Both of his children worked for the Surrey RCMP at the time. [21]

On April 28, 2023, the provincial government recommended that the City retain the Surrey Police Service, citing concerns that restaffing the Surrey RCMP would destabilize RCMP staffing across the province and issues around the quality of RCMP service in general. [20] Public Safety Minister Farnworth promised to fund the remainder of the transition to the SPS on the condition that the City completed the transition, and refused to fund any of the costs associated with returning to the RCMP. [20] The province also attached several conditions to returning to the RCMP, such as a detailed re-staffing plan that did not include poaching RCMP members from other detachments. [20]

During a closed-door meeting on June 16, 2023, the Surrey council once again voted to reverse the transition and return to RCMP policing. [22] Councillor Linda Annis said that councillors only received the relevant 500-page provincial report and the city's reports on the feasibility and costs of maintaining the RCMP the night before, giving them less than 24 hours to review the recommendations and rationale. [23]

On July 19, 2023, the provincial government ordered the city continue to transition to the Surrey Police Service, finding that the city's re-staffing plan did not meet the requirements laid out by the province and that there was no conceivable way in which the Surrey RCMP could maintain its status as the police of jurisdiction without compromising public safety elsewhere in the province. [24] The provincial government will continue to fund the remainder of the transition as promised when the government recommended the City continue the transition, and it also appointed former BC Hydro CEO Jessica McDonald as an advisor to facilitate the remainder of the transition. [24]

On October 13, 2023, the Surrey government filed a lawsuit against the province seeking an injunction to suspend the transition. [25] In response, the BC Legislative Assembly passed the Police Amendment Act, 2023, which enables the Solicitor General to compel the Surrey government into completing the transition and terminating their contract with the RCMP. Peter German, the legal counsel of the Surrey government, announced they will continue to fight the transition and amend their lawsuit to address the Act. [26]

On November 16, 2023, the BC Solicitor General Mike Farnworth suspended the authority of the Surrey Police Board, invoking the powers granted by the Police Amendment Act, 2023. Farnworth claimed that this was done because the Board was deliberately stalling on the transition process from the RCMP to the SPS. Mayor Locke, who was also the chair of the board, regarded this action as a "takeover" by the provincial government. Mike Serr, a former Abbotsford Police chief, was installed as an administrator to act in the Board's place. [27]

Organization

Budget

An operational budget of $184 million was planned for the fiscal year 2021, while another $63.7 million was budgeted over five years from 2020 to 2024 to complete the transition from the RCMP. [4]

Policing districts

There will be five SPS districts, aligned with the city of Surrey neighbourhood boundaries. A District Inspector will manage each district. [28] The Metro Team will be a flexible unit responsible for a citywide patrol.

Divisions

SPS maintains three bureaus, each managed by a Deputy Chief Constable: [28] [29]

Community Policing Bureau

Investigative Services Bureau

Support Services Bureau

List of chief constables

Controversies

Opposition to municipal policing

Brenda Locke, the current mayor, has opposed the transition to a municipal police force since 2022. In 2018, as a city councillor, she voted in favour of creating a municipal police force.

The RCMP police union (the National Police Federation) and some community members raised opposition to the establishment of a municipal police force. This group attempted to force a province-wide referendum on the issue in 2021, but failed to secure enough signatures for the vote to proceed. [30]

Hiring

The Surrey Police Service planned to hire 400 officers in 2022. It was accused of poaching officers from other municipal police forces as it rapidly expanded and recruited experienced officers from 18 police forces. [31] In 2022, the Service entered into its first contract with the Surrey Police Union, which included agreements that new recruits would be among the highest-paid in the country and a parity clause that ensured that annual raises would match those of the nearby Vancouver Police Department. [32]

See also

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References

  1. ↑ "SPS Surpasses Deployment Milestone as Second Anniversary Approaches". Surrey Police Service. July 25, 2022. Archived from the original on July 25, 2022. Retrieved November 13, 2022.
  2. ↑ "Corporate Report – Police Transition Update" (PDF). City of Surrey. November 12, 2022. Archived (PDF) from the original on November 13, 2022. Retrieved November 13, 2022.
  3. 1 2 3 "Road to SPS – Hiring". Surrey Police Service. May 2023. Archived from the original on May 17, 2023. Retrieved May 17, 2023.
  4. 1 2 "2021 Five-Year (2021-2025) Financial Plan – General Operating" (PDF). City of Surrey. November 16, 2020.
  5. ↑ Bolan, Kim (February 25, 2021). "Surrey Police Chief Norm Lipinski working to finalize details of takeover from RCMP". Vancouver Sun.
  6. 1 2 Bula, Frances (August 23, 2019). "Surrey's move from RCMP to municipal local force unprecedented". The Globe and Mail.
  7. ↑ "History". Surrey RCMP.
  8. ↑ "Contract Policing". Royal Canadian Mounted Police.
  9. ↑ "The RCMP's thin red line: Is contract policing unsustainable?". Globe and Mail. March 2, 2018. Retrieved July 13, 2022.
  10. ↑ "Regular Council Minutes" (PDF). City of Surrey. November 5, 2018.
  11. ↑ "Minister approves establishment of a Surrey police board". BC Gov News. February 27, 2020.
  12. ↑ Wells, Nick (November 20, 2020). "Norm Lipinski announced as chief of new Surrey municipal police force". Global News.
  13. ↑ "Policing Transition". Surrey Police Service. Retrieved July 13, 2022.
  14. ↑ "Surrey Police Service officer recovering after being stabbed during arrest". Global News. March 10, 2022. Retrieved July 13, 2022.
  15. ↑ "Surrey cop who died by suicide was facing probe for texts with 15-year-old girl". Global News. July 14, 2023. Retrieved July 30, 2023.
  16. ↑ "Texts with 15-year-old girl at centre of early investigation into Surrey, B.C. police officer before his death". CBC News. July 13, 2023. Retrieved July 30, 2023.
  17. ↑ "Surrey (City) Election Results". CivicInfo BC.
  18. ↑ Chan, Cheryl (September 7, 2022). "Pro-RCMP group endorses Brenda Locke in Surrey mayoral race". Vancouver Sun.
  19. ↑ Dickson, Courtney (October 13, 2022). "Surrey mayoral candidate promises to dismantle municipal police force and keep RCMP". CBC.
  20. 1 2 3 4 Holiday, Ian (April 28, 2023). "B.C. announces decision on Surrey police transition, recommends SPS". CTV News. Bell Media.
  21. ↑ "Surrey, B.C., councillor breached code of conduct over police vote, ethics commissioner says". CBC News.
  22. ↑ "Surrey police decision far from settled after council votes to retain RCMP". CBC News.
  23. ↑ "'An insult to the people of Surrey': Councillor slams city policing decision". CityNews.
  24. 1 2 "Province orders City of Surrey to stick with transition to municipal police force". CBC News.
  25. ↑ Steacy, Lisa (October 13, 2023). "Surrey mayor announces legal action in ongoing fight over police transition". CTV News.
  26. ↑ Charach, Kevin (October 26, 2023). "Province passes legislation to end Surrey policing saga". CTV News.
  27. ↑ Little, Simon (November 16, 2023). "Surrey Police Board suspended as B.C. moves to force transition from RCMP". Global News.
  28. 1 2 City of Vancouver; City of Surrey; Vancouver Police Department; Curt T. Griffiths (May 2019). "Surrey Policing Transition Plan" (PDF).
  29. ↑ "Organizational Structure". Surrey Police Service. Retrieved July 13, 2022.
  30. ↑ "Surrey police referendum petition fails". CityNews. March 4, 2022. Retrieved November 16, 2021.
  31. ↑ "Surrey Police Service recruitment a public safety issue, says Councillor". CityNews. November 26, 2021. Retrieved July 13, 2022.
  32. ↑ "Surrey Police Service inks 1st contract, making officers among the highest paid in Canada". Global News. March 4, 2022. Retrieved July 13, 2022.
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