Surrey city council cast an historic vote Monday night on the next course of action for Surreysa国际传媒檚 embattled policing transition. On a 5-4 vote, council decided to maintain the Surrey RCMP as this citysa国际传媒檚 police of jurisdiction instead of forging ahead with the Surrey Police Service.

City staff will now prepare a plan for Minister of Public Safety and Solicitor General Mike Farnworthsa国际传媒檚 approval to that end, as well as issue a letter on councilsa国际传媒檚 behalf to the Surrey Police Board sa国际传媒渢o pause all new hiring and expenditures pending further Council direction.sa国际传媒�

Mayor Brenda Locke and her Surrey Connect five-member majority campaigned on keeping the RCMP.

She and councillors Harry Bains, Rob Stutt, Pardeep Kooner and Gordon Hepner voted in favour, while Safe Surrey Coalition councillors Doug Elford and Mandeep Nagra voted against keeping the RCMP as did Surrey First councillors Mike Bose and Linda Annis.

Annis moved an amendment toward staging a referendum, but her amendment was defeated.

sa国际传媒淲e have no idea where wesa国际传媒檙e at with this transition, theresa国际传媒檚 been very little public consultation,sa国际传媒� Annis said. sa国际传媒淲e have no idea what the cost would be if we were to revert back to the RCMP. This is the largest issue that probably any single city council will ever make.sa国际传媒�

sa国际传媒淚 think theresa国际传媒檚 absolutely nothing wrong with engaging with the public and asking for their opinion,sa国际传媒� Annis said. Surrey Connect claimed during the election campaign that sticking with the RCMP would save taxpayers $520M over the next four years.

Coun. Mike Bose said having a referendum, sa国际传媒渁s expensive and as time-consuming as it would be,sa国际传媒� would sa国际传媒渃reate that transparency and openness that wesa国际传媒檝e all run on.sa国际传媒�

Two options were before council. The second option, rendered moot after this vote, was to continue the transition to the Surrey Police Service.

Surrey First issued a press release before the meeting calling for a referendum, in which Annis said, sa国际传媒淭he nine of us elected to council on October 15 should not be making this final decision.sa国际传媒�

Annis wrote a letter to Farnworth urging him to call on the City of Surrey to hold a public referendum on the policing question, arguing that sa国际传媒渢his costly back-and-forth will remain a political football unless the voters of Surrey are finally allowed to decide this issue.sa国际传媒�

Nagra urged to sa国际传媒済et the numbers outsa国际传媒� from the Surrey Police Board. sa国际传媒淩ight now we donsa国际传媒檛 have any numbers,sa国际传媒� he said. sa国际传媒淧lease make a wise decision, letsa国际传媒檚 get all the numbers before we vote on this.sa国际传媒�

sa国际传媒淚sa国际传媒檓 not saying, you know, that the SPS is better than RCMP or RCMP is better than SPS, all wesa国际传媒檙e saying is letsa国际传媒檚 look at the numbers one more time before we make any decisions.sa国际传媒�

Elford said going sa国际传媒渂ack in time to untransition to the RCMPsa国际传媒� would once again render Surrey an sa国际传媒渦nderpoliced city.sa国际传媒� The Newton resident said hesa国际传媒檚 been personally victimized under the RCMPsa国际传媒檚 watch, including having 19 bikes stolen, a sa国际传媒渕eth-crazed bunch of youths smash windows out of my brand-new car and threaten my life in my driveway, only for them to come back and smash out the window of my rental car the next day.

sa国际传媒淒o I want to wake up in the middle of the night to chase a burglar out of my living room?sa国际传媒� Elford said. sa国际传媒淚 do not want to go back to a police force that is undermanned and continues to be undermanned to this day.sa国际传媒�

In response, Coun. Rob Stutt said he fails to see how Elford sa国际传媒渉as provided any proof that a change of the policing that wesa国际传媒檝e had for the last 70 years would improve by a new police force.sa国际传媒�

sa国际传媒淲e hear letsa国际传媒檚 look at the numbers one more time. I would like to look at the numbers one time. We havensa国际传媒檛 seen the numbers yet,sa国际传媒� Stutt noted. sa国际传媒淭hatsa国际传媒檚 the issue.sa国际传媒�

Coun. Gordon Hepner asked city staff if the SPS has revealed to staff its capital expenditure plan for the transition. Finance manager Kam Grewal replied that sa国际传媒渙ver the course of time staff have worked with SPS, there have been communications, but in relation to recent times and an updated capital plan, that information hasnsa国际传媒檛 yet been solidified or finalized in terms of what does that plan look like rolling out to completion of transition.sa国际传媒�

Locke also weighed in.

sa国际传媒淔irst of all, Councillor Elford, with all due respect you consistently voted against additional staffing to add more boots on the ground and we did not see that in the previous four years,sa国际传媒� she said. She added Annis is getting ahead of herself in terms of a referendum because the motion before council Monday was to maintain the RCMP as the police of jurisdiction and send a plan to Farnworth.

sa国际传媒淭hey are that now,sa国际传媒� Locke said. sa国际传媒淲e are only talking about asking staff to assist us in preparing a report, in fact, a report that should have been prepared at the very beginning of this almost four years ago.sa国际传媒�

Meantime, the Surrey Police Union last week said 275 of 293 Surrey Police Service officers signed a pledge saying they have no intention of joining the sa国际传媒渢oxicsa国际传媒� RCMP if the process to reverse the SPS policing transition to keep the Surrey RCMP as the citysa国际传媒檚 police of jurisdiction goes ahead.

The Surrey Police Union pledge, released Nov. 10, says 94 per cent of its members have declared sa国际传媒淣o Intentionsa国际传媒� of joining the RCMP if the SPS ceases to exist.

Locke on election night Oct. 15 said in her victory speech that she and her team have a sa国际传媒済reat plansa国际传媒� to keep the Surrey RCMP as the citysa国际传媒檚 police of jurisdiction, adding, sa国际传媒淲e will not leave any of the SPS officers behind, we will pick them up.sa国际传媒� She reiterated this in her inauguration speech on Nov. 7, at city hall.

SPU President Rick Stewart said the officers sa国际传媒渧oluntarily signed this declaration because of a number of specific reasons related to the RCMP, and as such, Mayor Lockesa国际传媒檚 hiring plan shows no regard for the will of our memberssa国际传媒� and sa国际传媒渢he attraction of working for a Surrey-based municipal police force remains as one of the main factors behind our successful recruitment thus far.sa国际传媒�

Locke expressed dismay.

sa国际传媒淚 would tell you that quite frankly Isa国际传媒檓 disappointed with this tactic that the SPS union has taken and as I said in my statement, this plan will be people-centric.

sa国际传媒淭here are opportunities with the RCMP and so people will make their decisions moving forward so I think all that will take on whatever role it takes on later on,sa国际传媒� Locke told the Now-Leader. sa国际传媒淚tsa国际传媒檚 a new day for Surrey and wesa国际传媒檙e going to do exactly what the voter had asked and so wesa国际传媒檝e moving forward on that. But you know, wesa国际传媒檝e got to get beyond the back-and-forth and thatsa国际传媒檚 important. I know we all want to have a shared goal.sa国际传媒�

That goal, she said, is keeping residents safe.

Brian Sauv茅, president of the National Police Federation, said policing sa国际传媒渟hould not be politicized.

sa国际传媒淭he police transition in Surrey has been a polarizing issue. However, the members of the Surrey RCMP have shown dedication and commitment throughout, and have been working seamlessly with their SPS colleagues which is a testament to their professionalism.sa国际传媒�

On the matter of council instructing City of Surrey staff to in turn instruct the Surrey Police Board to cease hiring and spending, the boardsa国际传媒檚 executive director Melissa Granum notes that under the Police Act the provincial government has authority over the board and no city council can direct the police sa国际传媒渨ith respect to their budget and their hiring.sa国际传媒�

Granum says the board has sa国际传媒渆very intentionsa国际传媒� of sa国际传媒渓ooking to the province for guidance on next steps and advicesa国际传媒� and sa国际传媒渋tsa国际传媒檚 also important to understand that the hiring thatsa国际传媒檚 occurring right now is completed and that takes us into January of next year. So we have new police recruits for the police academy and we have police officers hired to deploy in January.sa国际传媒�

Those hires, she said, have been completed.

sa国际传媒淪o any stoppage to hiring would have a ripple effect into the spring,sa国际传媒� Granum said. sa国际传媒淚tsa国际传媒檚 really, really important to understand is that the province has given us direction to continue deploying police officers and to continue hiring. Thatsa国际传媒檚 the direction from the province itself.sa国际传媒�

This, Granum explains, overrides what council decided Monday night sa国际传媒渨ith our approved budget, yes.sa国际传媒�

sa国际传媒淭he bottom line is hiring these police officers that wesa国际传媒檝e already given employment offers to and whosa国际传媒檝e already given notice to their previous employers, is Surrey needs those police resources at the front line, they need those police resources to be taking calls for service in Surrey.sa国际传媒�

So itsa国际传媒檚 the province that has the say, not city council at this point, within the 2022 budget. sa国际传媒淭hatsa国际传媒檚 something really important as well is council ultimately approves our annual budgets so wesa国际传媒檒l be submitting a budget for next year, and wesa国际传媒檒l have to determine next steps once council makes a decision on the budget for next year.sa国际传媒�

That said, Granum notes sa国际传媒渋t would be idealsa国际传媒� for Farnworth to make his decision sa国际传媒渋n a timely mannersa国际传媒� because council needs to plan its budget and sa国际传媒渋t needs to understand which direction itsa国际传媒檚 going.sa国际传媒�

sa国际传媒淎t the end of the day, the most important thing obviously for everybody involved is public safety and ensuring that we have enough police officers working in the city. Theresa国际传媒檚 a common goal there.sa国际传媒�

tom.zytaruk@surreynowleader.com
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