The Surrey Police Board and Surrey Police Union are taking Mayor Brenda Locke to task for sa国际传媒渆rroneouslysa国际传媒� claiming the Surrey Police Service is running a deficit budget over $26 million but Locke is standing by that claim.

sa国际传媒淭hey are running a deficit budget, $26 million-plus deficit budget,sa国际传媒� she told the Now-Leader on Jan. 17. sa国际传媒淭hose arensa国际传媒檛 my numbers, those are the numbers we get from our accounting department at city hall. They have been told about it, they know about it, the SPS know about it. I told them in August, sa国际传媒渟top spending, stop hiring. They didnsa国际传媒檛. So then we told them again in December, no more hires. And they went ahead and hired anyway.sa国际传媒�

The City of Surrey issued a statement from Locke on Jan. 16 that states council in early 2023 approved the SPS budget at $48.7 million. sa国际传媒淎t the end of 2023, SPS had spent $75.4M, resulting in a massive budget overrun of $26.7M. Put another way, the SPSsa国际传媒檚 out of control spending in 2023 was 55 per cent higher than what they were approved to spend,sa国际传媒� Locke said.

sa国际传媒淩ather than working within the budget that was approved by the City, SPS made expensive hires that it could not afford, including up to 100 people on payroll that are not deployed on the frontline. In other words, Surrey taxpayers are paying for SPS officers that are not deployed to keep Surrey safe. The SPS has continued its unauthorized hiring in 2024.sa国际传媒�

The SPB then issued its own press release, with a statement from the boardsa国际传媒檚 provincially-appointed administrator Mike Serr that sa国际传媒渃larifies facts on Surrey Police Service costs.sa国际传媒�

The SPB press release says that with Locke as chairwoman of the board it submitted a 2023 budget of $157.6 million to the city and during 2023, sa国际传媒渙n the basis of plans to eliminate the SPS and return to the RCMP, the city reduced this budget to $48.8 million for 2023 sa国际传媒� a cut of 70 per cent.

sa国际传媒淲ith the decision by Minister Farnworth in July 2023, and the subsequent amendments to the Police Act that require the transition to be completed, Surrey Police Service officials worked with city officials to arrive at a budget of $75 million to carry SPS through to the end of 2023,sa国际传媒� Serr is quoted in the press release. sa国际传媒淐ontinuing her fight to ignore the provincial decision and requirements of the new Police Act, the mayor refused to provide formal approval of the agreed to budget and is now misrepresenting this as sa国际传媒榦verspendingsa国际传媒� in relation to her 70 per cent cut. Regardless of this cut, SPS will close the year under the $75 million budget.sa国际传媒�

sa国际传媒淭he transition is legally bound to continue,sa国际传媒� he added. sa国际传媒淭his means that the SPS budget will continue to increase, as the RCMP detachmentsa国际传媒檚 budget needs will decrease. It is inappropriate to suggest that the continued hires and associated budget is a burden on taxpayers, just as it is unfair to refuse to pay these officers.sa国际传媒�

Rick Stewart, president of the Surrey Police Union, also released a statement on Jan. 16 sa国际传媒渇ollowing budget misinformation released by Mayor Brenda Locke earlier today.sa国际传媒�

sa国际传媒淭he Surrey Police Union (SPU) is expressing significant concern over the dissemination of inaccurate information by Surrey Mayor Brenda Locke that is being used to sow confusion among residents and undermine the credibility of Surrey Police Service (SPS), the Surrey Police Board, and our dedicated members,sa国际传媒� Stewart charged.

Stewart said the 2023 policing budget for Surrey was sa国际传媒渋nitially formulated under the assumptionsa国际传媒� the Surrey RCMP would remain the citysa国际传媒檚 police of jurisdiction, with the SPS discontinuing its operations by July 2023. sa国际传媒淐onsequently, SPS operated with an incomplete budget, covering approximately half of the fiscal year. Following Minister Farnworthsa国际传媒檚 decision to proceed with the policing transition, the City of Surrey refused to adjust the budget to reflect staffing and transition planning.sa国际传媒�

sa国际传媒淚t is patently unfair of Mayor Locke to grossly underfund SPS and then criticize for running a deficit when the total budgeted amount for policing is in surplus,sa国际传媒� Stewart charged.

Coun. Linda Annis also weighed in with a press release issued Jan. 17 in which she charges that Locke, by not moving ahead with the revised SPS budget, sa国际传媒渃reated an accounting issue on paper.sa国际传媒�

sa国际传媒淏ecause council did not move ahead with the revised SPS budget, the third quarter showed the RCMP had a positive variance of some $27 million, while the SPS had a negative variance of $23.4 million. Meanwhile, the total police budget showed a third quarter positive overall variance of nearly $4 million. The fact is that as the budget for the SPS grows, the budget for the RCMP has to be reduced.sa国际传媒�