In just one month, the Surrey Police Service will become the policing agency of jurisdiction in its namesake city, taking over that role from the RCMP.
The final countdown is coming after a years-long battle. So far, the SPS has hired 445 officers.
“We’re a collective of what I would like to say is best practices from 26 different organizations,” SPS spokesperson Ian MacDonald said.
“About 20-25 percent of those are former RCMP members. We run a little higher when it comes to municipal backgrounds. And about 20 percent are actually recruits.”
With the SPS hiring so many officers within a relatively short period of time, there has been unprecedented movement between agencies.
In the past few months, the SPS has hired 18 officers from the Vancouver Police Department. But the switching of uniforms doesn’t stop there.
“Although we took on 18 former VPD staff we’ve had eight of our staff leave for VPD,” MacDonald told Global News.
“The story is not over there. Four of those eight have ended up coming back to SPS.”
Vancouver police acknowledge a number of officers have left that department. Some have taken early retirement before joining the ranks of another agency.
The VPD says it, too, has been hiring.
“Our recruiting game is in full swing,” VPD spokesperson Sgt. Steve Addison said.
“We’ve got 20 new recruits that graduate from the Justice Institute next month. We’ve just hired five new exempt officers, so experienced officers from other agencies.”
The SPS still needs to hire 340 officers but says it will be ready to take over command on Nov. 29, noting the transition will be ongoing.
“There’s a lot of work that has to be done and so there will be a partnership between the Surrey Police Service and Surrey RCMP for a period to come,” MacDonald said.