Surrey Mayor Brenda Locke accused the Surrey Police Board of intentionally disrespecting the municipality in their first meeting together since the fate of the Surrey Police Service was sealed.
Locke, who chairs the board, told her fellow directors Wednesday night that regaining public confidence would be difficult after the controversial transition period, but that work begins with them.
“This board has made it a deliberate position that they build a wall and even offend the City of Surrey through their work. That posturing must stop today,” she said.
“It is my goal that given these challenging circumstances, we will build the best and most accountable police department we can. That means an immediate pivot on our relationship with the city to one that is more respectful and collaborative.”
On July 19, Public Safety Minister Mike Farnworth ended months of uncertainty about the future of policing in Surrey, enacting powers under the Police Act to force the city to complete its transition to the Surrey Police Service (SPS) and gradually phase out its RCMP detachment.
It was not the path Locke wanted, and put her and her council majority in the position of having to break an election pledge to keep the Surrey RCMP as the city’s police of jurisdiction.
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The pair met to discuss Farnworth’s decision earlier this week. While Farnworth characterized their discussion as “respectful” and “productive,” in a statement afterward, Locke critiqued the minister’s rationale for forcing the transition, and repeated her concerns about the taxpayer burden of the SPS.
A financial update at Wednesday’s police board meeting revealed that year-to-date, as of June 30, the SPS has cost the municipality $34.5 million in expenditures.
Chief Const. Norm Lipinski said the force has 336 sworn officers and a successorship agreement in place for its unionized civilian staff. About 300 municipal workers currently supporting the RCMP detachment are expected to switch over to the SPS, he added.
“All parties understand how the transition would take place from Surrey RCMP to Surrey Police Service,” he told the board members.
The SPS has 11 vehicles on hand and 28 more on order. It has no equipment shortages and all but around 15 of its departmental policies have been completed and approved, he said.
Cheney Cloke, vice-chair of the Surrey Police Board, agreed with Locke that regaining the public trust is of the utmost importance. In her remarks, made after Locke’s, she thanked Lipinski, the SPS and the police board for “maintaining their professionalism through all of this uncertainty.”
“As an independent board appointed by the provincial government, we will continue to do our work of governing SPS professionally and impartially,” she said.
“The minister’s decision was unequivocal. We will follow his direction.”
Locke appeared to take exception to that statement and asked whether other board members had met without her prior to the meeting to make that decision. When it was revealed they had not, she told Cloke that her comments did not represent everyone on the board and shouldn’t be presented as such.
Some members of the police board have previously raised concerns about Locke’s bias in favour of the RCMP. Locke said Wednesday she would continue to defend her views, but not tolerate any disrespect.
“If you wish to debate me on policing issues I will not only tolerate it but I welcome it. Name the time and the place and I will advocate my position as forcefully as you might challenge it,” she said.
“But I will not, however, disrespect you, nor will I ever allow you to disrespect me or any member of city council.”
The next Surrey Police Board meeting is scheduled for Sept. 27. Lipinski has previously stated that the next steps in the transition are to develop a budget for the SPS, restart the hiring process in full force, and deploy the service’s resources in correspondence with the “demobilization of RCMP officers.”