Surrey Mayor Brenda Locke says the sa国际传媒渓eadership ballsa国际传媒� is now in the provincial governmentsa国际传媒檚 court concerning the citysa国际传媒檚 policing transition after council peppered Chief Constable Norm Lipinski of the Surrey Police Service and Assistant Commissioner Brian Edwards of the Surrey RCMP with roughly an hoursa国际传媒檚 worth of questions about its current state on Monday night.

sa国际传媒淲esa国际传媒檝e heard today that there is much to be done to get the framework and all the legal agreements in place,sa国际传媒� Locke said, summing up the hour. sa国际传媒淭he city has no authority to do any of that. We cannot just make up the authority, we donsa国际传媒檛 have that right. The province needs to make sure that there is a plan, that there is a path forward.sa国际传媒�

sa国际传媒淭his council has done everything asked of us and within our authority to follow through on our obligation to determine the policing model for our city,sa国际传媒� she said. sa国际传媒淢uch of the issue that we are dealing with are provincial and federal issues and that has become a lot of the stall.sa国际传媒�

Locke stressed that if the NDP provincial government wants the transition to happen, sa国际传媒渋t needs to step up, show leadership and do their job.sa国际传媒� She said shesa国际传媒檚 repeatedly asked for the plan, has to date sent six letters to provincial government officials, among them Public Safety Minister Mike Farnworth and Premier David Eby, sa国际传媒渁nd seen nothing.sa国际传媒�

sa国际传媒淚 have also never heard of why we had our plan rejected (to stick with the RCMP),sa国际传媒� Locke added.

A corporate report before Surrey council Monday night (Sept. 11) revealed there is still sa国际传媒渘o clear plan, or any supporting documents in place, to continue a transitionsa国际传媒� to the SPS from the Surrey RCMP as this citysa国际传媒檚 police of jurisdiction.

sa国际传媒淎s a result, there remains a great deal of uncertainty regarding how a transition to SPS would be completed,sa国际传媒� the report reads.

The corporate report before council concludes that although Farnworth has directed the City of Surrey to forge ahead with the SPS, sa国际传媒渙utstanding challenges remainsa国际传媒� and development of a sa国际传媒渃omprehensive framework and planning documents is necessary for any transition to SPS.sa国际传媒�

On July 19 Farnworth ordered city council to carry on with the transition to the Surrey Police Service from the Surrey RCMP, despite council having voted 6-3 on Dec. 12 to maintain the RCMP as the citysa国际传媒檚 police of jurisdiction.

Farnworth then appointed Jessica McDonald as the provincesa国际传媒檚 Strategic Implementation Advisor to oversee the transition. In August, Chris Donnelly, a public affairs officer for the Ministry of Public Safety and Solicitor General, told the Now-Leader that McDonald sa国际传媒渋s unavailable for interviewssa国际传媒� and Donnelly emailed a statement attributable to the ministry that sa国际传媒淭he work by the new Strategic Implementation Advisor to advance the transition is well underway,sa国际传媒� and that the ministry sa国际传媒渨ill continue to keep stakeholders informed as the work progresses.sa国际传媒�

Mondaysa国际传媒檚 corporate report sa国际传媒� by Terry Waterhouse, general manager of community services, Kam Grewal, general manager of finance, and Joey Brar, acting general manager of corporate services sa国际传媒� notes that the continued deployment of SPS officers into the Surrey RCMP will require another extension of an assignment agreement past Sept. 30 and the $150 million Farnworth promised from the provincial government to help with costs related to the transition sa国际传媒渋s likely not sufficient to cover anticipated costs.sa国际传媒�

Grewal told council Monday that none of that $150 million has yet been allocated to the City of Surrey. sa国际传媒淚n fact I would take a step back and say the city has not received any funding from the province in relation to the transition,sa国际传媒� Grewal said. sa国际传媒淚 am aware of the public announcement, the public pledge of $150 million which I have on many occasions have said is not enough to cover the damages done to the city both historically and a go-forward basis. As of now, itsa国际传媒檚 all hypothetical.sa国际传媒�

The corporate report notes sa国际传媒渙utstanding challenges include, but are not limited to, the lack of a joint HR Plan to guide deployments and demobilization, the Assignment Agreement needs to be extended beyond September 2023, and the lack of legal frameworks to support RCMP Members serving under a municipal police department command.sa国际传媒�

Moreover, new governance and project management structures must also be established.

sa国际传媒淭here is also a need to confirm plans for asset transfer or sharing, occupancy of facilities, and file and exhibit transfer, among others,sa国际传媒� the report reads.

Coun. Rob Stutt asked Edwards where the transition is at in following a plan, and given that progress, when the SPS will be in the position to become Surreysa国际传媒檚 police of jurisdiction.

sa国际传媒淎t this point in time we do not have a plan that is being followed,sa国际传媒� Edwards replied. sa国际传媒淎 plan is going to have to be developed between the parties, and the architecture to build that plan is going to need to be developed. So for me, it is impossible to provide you with a timeline.sa国际传媒�

Edwards said 233 SPS officers were either deployed or set to be deployed to the Surrey RCMP but currently there are sa国际传媒渁pproximately 179sa国际传媒� and 38 Surrey Mounties have left the RCMP to join the SPS.

Lipinski said about 45 per cent of the frontline right now are SPS people. Asked how many officers he thinks he actually needs, Lipinski replied he hasnsa国际传媒檛 sa国际传媒渄etermined that specifically.sa国际传媒�

sa国际传媒淩ight now, our planning prior to the election (Oct. 15, 2022) was to look at 734, which is what is authorized to Surrey right now. So as we move forward 734 plus 25, I know thatsa国际传媒檚 been in the budget for Surrey detachment, that would be the number Isa国际传媒檇 be looking at but theresa国际传媒檚 still some planning that needs to take place.sa国际传媒�

Stutt asked Lipinski, sa国际传媒淚sa国际传媒檓 going to ask you, sir, does the SPS have a plan to move forward?sa国际传媒�

Lipinski replied that for the publicsa国际传媒檚 benefit itsa国际传媒檚 important to give context. sa国际传媒淭wo and a half years when I started this, there was a plan sa国际传媒� there was an HR plan, there was an assignment agreement which is an agreement between ourselves and the RCMP, but letsa国际传媒檚 stick with the HR plan,sa国际传媒� he said, which had 35 SPS officers being deployed every second month. sa国际传媒淎nd so when the election happened we put a pause on that, and it was agreed by three levels of government so we missed out on a number of cohorts. And then the HR plan expired May 31. And when we were looking ahead at that time we did look at all the things we would want to bring to Surrey and we have in fact started researching some of that. Theresa国际传媒檚 no need to bring it forward to the public at this time because we are not police of jurisdiction. When we get there, we will bring that forward.sa国际传媒�

Stutt asked Lipinski sa国际传媒淚s there a plan or not? Itsa国际传媒檚 a yes or no question.sa国际传媒� Lipinski said sa国际传媒淲e are in the beginnings of putting together a plan for 2024. I believe that wesa国际传媒檒l be moving forward rather quickly here.sa国际传媒�

He said that 11 more SPS officers were set to sa国际传媒済o over to the front linesa国际传媒� on Tuesday morning.

Edwards said there is significant work to be done as there is no plan for transfer of assets (ie. patrol cars), a legal framework outside of an MOU, no plan for information management, information technology, no plan for the transfer of hundreds of thousands of files, and no plan for exhibits. Given the priority of moving officers to the frontline, he said, sa国际传媒淲e are waiting and working with SPS for a plan to get us to Dec. 31. We cannot piecemeal this, we have to do a fulsome plan.sa国际传媒�

Meantime, Coun. Linda Annis noted that having two police departments is costing Surrey taxpayers $266,000 per day. She called the report sa国际传媒渄isappointing because it reflects a serious lack of urgency and no political enthusiasm or leadership to get the transition done quickly.sa国际传媒�

sa国际传媒淚 get it, the mayor wanted to keep the RCMP, but that ship has sailed,sa国际传媒� Annis stated in a press release Monday, charging that Mayor Brenda Locke and council sa国际传媒渘eed to step upsa国际传媒� and instruct city staff and the SPS sa国际传媒渢o get on with completing the transition as quickly as possible.sa国际传媒�

Also on Monday, Sept. 11 a press release issued by the SPS bid welcome to its fifth class of recruits. On Sept. 8th, the SPS officially welcomed seven new recruit constables, who will now begin their municipal police officer training at the Justice Institute of British Columbia (JIBC).

sa国际传媒淭his group consists of four females and three males, ranging in age from 25 to 38 years of age,sa国际传媒� the press release states. sa国际传媒淎ll the recruits have a connection to Surrey sa国际传媒� either as residents or through past employment, as well as extensive volunteering experience. They also reflect the diversity of the community they will serve, with different cultural backgrounds and language skills.sa国际传媒�

tom.zytaruk@surreynowleader.com
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