Surreysa国际传媒檚 top Mountie Brian Edwards is set to present before city council Monday a sa国际传媒渇ramework for maintaining the RCMP as Police of Jurisdiction in Surrey.sa国际传媒�

Council will consider a corporate report, of the same name, asking the politicians to endorse a proposed framework containing Surreysa国际传媒檚 sa国际传媒減riorities, goals and objectives for policing in 2023sa国际传媒� and direct staff to present a sa国际传媒渇inal plansa国际传媒� for maintaining the Surrey RCMP as the citysa国际传媒檚 police force for councilsa国际传媒檚 endorsement at its Dec. 12 council meeting.

sa国际传媒淭his report provides a framework for the City to maintain the RCMP as the Police of Jurisdiction in Surrey,sa国际传媒� the corporate report states. sa国际传媒淭his framework will guide the development of the final plan to maintain the RCMP as the Police of Jurisdiction in Surrey which will be presented to Council for endorsement on December 12, 2022, should Council endorse the recommendations of this report.

Mondaysa国际传媒檚 corporate report sa国际传媒� by Surreysa国际传媒檚 manager of community services Terry Waterhouse, manager of finance Kam Grewal, and manager of corporate services Rob Costanzo sa国际传媒� states that a sa国际传媒減roject teamsa国际传媒� will oversee development of the final plan which, if approved by council on Dec. 12, will be submitted to Public Safety Minister and Solicitor General Mike Farnworth for consideration by Dec. 15.

At councilsa国际传媒檚 last meeting on Nov. 14 Mayor Brenda Lockesa国际传媒檚 Surrey Connect majority on a 5-4 vote directed city staff to prepare a plan toward that end.

The project team is comprised of Edwards, Waterhouse, consultants Tonia Enger and Dr. Peter German sa国际传媒� who has held high positions including the RCMPsa国际传媒檚 national director general of financial crime and president of the International Centre for Criminal Law Reform sa国际传媒� with senior members of the RCMP and city staff providing sa国际传媒渟trategic and administrative support.sa国际传媒�

sa国际传媒淭he Plan, if endorsed, will provide a comprehensive update on the status of the transition to date and highlights the significant amount of work still required,sa国际传媒� the report coming before council on Monday states. It also notes the contractual requirement for the RCMP to continue to be the citysa国际传媒檚 police of jurisdiction is sa国际传媒渁lready in place.sa国际传媒�

It notes that the number of Mounties assigned to the Surrey RCMP sa国际传媒渉as not been reduced and remainssa国际传媒� at 843, with 58 of those assigned to Lower Mainland District Integrated Teams and sa国际传媒渘ot locatedsa国际传媒� within the Surrey RCMP detachment.

sa国际传媒淎s such, the Surrey Detachment strength is considered 785 Members, although 51 of these positions are not currently funded,sa国际传媒� the corporate report states. It adds that sa国际传媒渁s of this date,sa国际传媒� 168 Surrey Police Service officers are sa国际传媒減roviding policing services to Surrey residentssa国际传媒� under the RCMPsa国际传媒檚 command.

While sa国际传媒渟ome preliminary discussionssa国际传媒� on legal agreements have been held, sa国际传媒渟ubstantive details have not been worked out, nor have agreements been drafted,sa国际传媒� the corporate report notes. sa国际传媒淪uch agreements may require approval of all parties, and likely Cabinet endorsement at both the Federal and Provincial levels. Based on the experience of prior negotiations, it is reasonable to assume the negotiations of these legal agreements will take 6 - 9 months.sa国际传媒�

Meantime, the budget and sa国际传媒減ractical implications of a holding pattern on deployment and demobilization while these legal agreements are prepared and signed off are significant and will require the City to continue to fund through most of 2023 a complement of non-deployed SPS police officers far in excess of the Citysa国际传媒檚 ability to pay,sa国际传媒� it continues.

The priorities, goals and objectives for policing in Surrey in 2023 include development of a staffing plan to provide employment, sa国际传媒渨here possible,sa国际传媒� to civilian and sworn SPS officers who are integrated into the Surrey RCMP sa国际传媒渢o allow for continued and enhanced career development opportunities,sa国际传媒� as well as develop and implement an Infrastructure Plan which will see the current information systems and equipment assets purchased on behalf of the SPS, repurposed by other entities within the City of Surrey.sa国际传媒�

The objective for 2023 is to maintain a minimum service level of 734 RCMP officers sa国际传媒渁s soon as possible to ensure adequate and effective policing in 2023 and beyondsa国际传媒� and to sa国际传媒渄evelop and implement a plan for SPS to provide Assigned Officers to supportsa国际传媒� operation of the Municipal Police Unitsa国际传媒� as the RCMP sa国际传媒渟taffs up to full funded strength consistent with an agreed staffing plan.sa国际传媒�

And then there are the financial considerations. The citysa国际传媒檚 policing operations budget for 2023 will include funding for the RCMP contract, city police support services and SPS. The financial plan it adopted for 2022 sa国际传媒� 2026 allocates a combined budget of $202.4 million for fiscal year 2023, for policing operations, with proposed budgets to be presented to council sa国际传媒渓ikely in early in 2023.sa国际传媒�

sa国际传媒淭o finalize the budget requirements for 2023,sa国际传媒� the corporate report notes, Surrey sa国际传媒渞equires approvalsa国际传媒� from Farnworth of its intention to stick with the RCMP..

sa国际传媒淭his will allow staff to determine a proposed start date for the implementation of the plan. Collaborative work with the RCMP and the SPS will then take place to determine the cadence of RCMP ramp up and SPS ramp down and confirm corresponding budget allocations required.sa国际传媒�

Surrey sa国际传媒渆nvisionssa国际传媒� a decision from Farnworth in January 2023 decision sa国际传媒渁nd a ramp up of RCMP and ramp down of SPS beginning in March

2023.sa国际传媒�

Meanwhile, the Surrey Police Boardsa国际传媒檚 next meeting is scheduled for Wednesday, Nov. 30. The agenda for that meeting on that day.

tom.zytaruk@surreynowleader.com
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