Policing in flux across B.C., as political promises prove difficult to implement

Novi Jette knew she was taking a risk when she left her job with the Vancouver Police Department to join the new Surrey Police Service, but she felt she'd done her homework.

Jette resigned a position she held for 23 years to assume a new rank in Surrey, where she looked forward to building the new police force from the ground up as head of employee services.

Now the future of the force is in question, as a new majority on city council looks to stop the replacement of the Surrey RCMP — and Jette says it could also spell the end of her policing career.

It's one example that suggests political promises to hire and rehire police officers at various police departments may not be as straightforward as a simple staffing shuffle.

"I would be really, extremely disappointed if this got reversed," Jette said.

"Going back to Vancouver ... personally, it's not an option," she said. "This would be the end for me."

Promising to transform police departments was a common refrain in municipal elections across B.C. last month, as a perceived increase in public violence and alleged prolific offenders drew calls for stronger law enforcement.

On Vancouver Island, Esquimalt re-elected Mayor Barb Desjardins, after council voted to pull out of a costly agreement to share a police department with Victoria.

Voters in Vancouver endorsed Ken Sim, after his ABC Vancouver party promised to hire 100 new officers for the city.

In her inauguration speech Monday, Surrey's new mayor, Brenda Locke, repeated her commitment to maintain local RCMP and put the brakes on a transition to a municipal force.

"The uncertainty of policing in Surrey will come to an end," Locke said.

One of council's first orders of business is putting together a report outlining a plan to keep RCMP in Surrey, which Locke has said will be cheaper than a municipal force. Locke declined requests for an interview, but has said she would like municipal officers to work as Mounties.

On Thursday, however, the Surrey Police Union put out a statement saying 275 of the force's 293 front-line officers had signed a pledge saying they have no intention to join RCMP, should the municipal force cease to exist.

Ian Macdonald, a Surrey Police Service spokesperson, said in an interview last month that moving to other municipal forces can also be complicated.

The Vancouver Police Department, for example, told The Canadian Press it's not hiring at rank, only at the constable level. Macdonald said that makes it tough for officers who have achieved higher ranks elsewhere to return.

"You might be returning at a lower wage, a lower rank, and you might be performing functions that were not your area of expertise," Macdonald said.

Training is also a consideration, he said. While the RCMP has a program to recognize the expertise of police who have worked for at least two years with another department, new recruits who have spent the year at the Justice Institute of B.C. would have to start again at the RCMP's depot division training process.

No cost for transition reversal yet

As of Oct. 15, Surrey's police department had 296 officers, with 154 deployed on the front line. Another 28 recruits were in training and 57 civilians were on staff.

The 296 include officers recruited from 26 different police agencies across Canada and 105 are former Mounties.

While cost estimates of keeping the RCMP and cancelling the transition have not yet been provided, Macdonald estimated about $93.6 million has been spent on sunk costs like salaries, operating and business expenses, equipment and an IT platform that is incompatible with RCMP infrastructure.

Severance for existing staff would be about $66.1 million, putting the cost of ending the transition now at $159.7 million, he said. A corporate report from staff published Saturday did not provide a transition cost estimate.

Dawn Roberts, director of communications for the B.C. RCMP, said she couldn't answer specific questions about how many Mounties the detachment has lost since the transition began, how easy it would be to bring staffing back up to par and what it would cost.

Until the city or province move to halt the transition, operations remain at "status quo," she said. However, she added the RCMP remains open to advancing any staffing or hiring processes deemed necessary.

The experienced policing program, which allows officers with at least two years of experience at other police departments to trade their blue for red serge, would also welcome former Surrey Police Service officers, she said.

"We respect and value the policing contributions of our SPS colleagues and would certainly welcome them to the RCMP," she said.

Other municipal forces also have their eye on Surrey's transition.

Sgt. Cindy Vance of the Vancouver Police Department said ABC Vancouver's goal of hiring 100 police officers is an ambitious one given general staffing shortages, but the department believes it's doable with council's support.

"It's not going to be easy, but I certainly am optimistic," she said.

Vance said although Vancouver is only hiring at the constable level, the department is seeking officers with experience and has a program to recognize external credentials. Typically, it doesn't involve full re-training but targeted teaching in cases where they use different firearms, for example, she said.

But, as shown by Jette's experience, making a decision to change police departments isn't easy.