Surrey Police Board Replaced by Independent Administrator

Photo Credit: Surrey Police Board

On Nov. 16, the BC government suspended all members of the Surrey Police Board and removed Surrey Mayor Brenda Locke as chair. Former Abbotsford police chief Mike Serr was appointed by the province to act in the board’s place as an independent administrator. This role requires Serr to oversee Surrey’s transition from the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) into the Surrey Police Service (SPS).  

The transition away from the RCMP first began in 2018, when former Mayor Doug McCallum made the decision to implement Surrey’s own municipal police service. 

In July 2020, the Surrey Police Board was first assembled by the province to oversee the transition from the RCMP to the SPS.

As of now, the SPS has hired more than 400 police officers and civilian employees, and over 200 SPS officers have been deployed into policing operations. 

In October 2022, Locke won the municipal election. She ran on the promise to keep the RCMP as the Police of Jurisdiction (POJ) in Surrey rather than establishing the SPS.

Under Locke’s lead, the Surrey Police Board voted to halt the transition and keep the RCMP as the POJ in Surrey. The decision was made following a corporate report produced by three city general managers, which criticized Surrey’s transition into the SPS. 

“There is no clear plan, or any supporting documents in place, to continue a transition to SPS,” the report read. “As a result, there remains a great deal of uncertainty regarding how a transition to SPS would be completed.” 

During this time, the Surrey Police Union stated in a news release that 94 per cent of SPS officers signed a pledge declaring that they had “no intention” of ever transferring into the RCMP, although Locke encouraged officers to do so. 

Later, in July of this year, the Surrey Police Board voted to completely revert back to the RCMP. However, on July 19, the BC government overruled this and ordered the Surrey Police Board to continue the transition to the SPS.

In response, the City of Surrey filed a petition with the Supreme Court of British Columbia to challenge the provincial order.

Approximately one month later, Minister of Public Safety and Solicitor General Mike Farnworth, announced in a news conference that the province had suspended the Surrey Police Board and replaced them with Serr. Farnworth said in a news release that he made this decision “after careful consideration of the work by the Surrey Police Board, which has been limited due to the lack of progress from the City of Surrey in advancing the police model transition to the SPS.” 

According to Global News, Farnworth assumes that Surrey could have a fully operational municipal force in about a year to 18 months or perhaps sooner. Farnworth believes that his actions will speed up that process, and once there has been enough progress in the transition to the SPS, the Surrey Police Board will be reinstated. 

Locke opposes the decision to disband the board. “Once again, the province is demonstrating that their approach is nothing short of a provincial police takeover in Surrey,” she said. “I will continue to oppose this transition because of the extraordinary cost for Surrey taxpayers that will deliver no additional public safety benefit.”

SPS Chief Norm Lipinski thanked the Surrey Police Board in an issued statement for their hard work and expressed how he looks forward to working with Serr, the new administrator. 

On Nov. 20, Locke amended the petition from Oct. 13, and explained this move in a news conference as a “significant step to stop the NDP police service as a result of the province’s attempted police takeover, which would require double digit — double digit! — NDP tax hike on Surrey tax payers.”

Locke hopes to “challenge the constitutionality of the province’s latest legislation” as “Surrey voters deserve to have their voices heard.”