Surrey Mayor Doug McCallum has released more details about the city’s plans for a civic police force, even though the provincial government has yet to approve the transition away from the RCMP.
On Tuesday, McCallum rolled out a new Surrey Police Department Ford Explorer with a colour scheme of white, blue and a bit of yellow.
“We’re going to ask the public what they think of the brand and so forth,” McCallum said.
Now, he says a new municipal force will be moving into the main Surrey RCMP detachment on Highway 10.
“Our own Surrey police is going to use the current headquarters that’s on No. 10 Highway by the old city hall. We have to, for a period of time, run parallel services and so we will also do that at community police stations and the main police station on No. 10 Highway,” McCallum added.
Meanwhile, the mayor says there is no truth to the rumour that a new force will be moving into a building on 104th Avenue near 144nd Street that has been empty for almost a decade and takes up an entire city block.
“I completely deny it,” he said.
On Tuesday, McCallum said a city report on the transition, which is expected to include its cost, was still a week to 10 days away from being completed and sent to the provincial government.
Solicitor General Mike Farnworth must approve the transition.