Surrey Police Service chief calls for a firm date to decide city's policing future

The chief of the fledgling Surrey Police Service (SPS) has pleaded publicly with the city's decision-makers to stop delaying and make a firm call on whether they will be the only police force in the city going forward.

It is one of the first major interviews Chief Const. Norm Lipinski has given since the province's recommendation regarding the city's police transition in late April. The first SPS officers began deploying in 2021 alongside the RCMP.

His interview follows an open letter that says the ongoing debate over whether the city continues the transition means employees are increasingly distracted by worries about their futures.

The province had recommended the city continue the years-long transition on April 27, and Mayor Brenda Locke has since pledged to stick with the RCMP. Since then, little movement has occurred on the issue.

Lipinski told CBC News that he and the rest of his officers are hoping to see a firm diary date where council would make a decision, one way or another.

"It's been a long time and I think it's fair to say anybody involved in this project would like to see it concluded," he said.

Lipinski says the SPS's total number of officers, 337, equates to around 46 per cent of the amount needed to police the city.

"Obviously, the province came out with a strong recommendation at the end of April. I am letting those processes take its natural course," he said.

"What we tend to forget is the human factor. I've got 400 employees, and there is a certain level of stress, a certain level of frustration both with the SPS and the RCMP about this project."

Locke was unavailable for an interview Tuesday, with a spokesperson saying she was in transit to attend a Federation of Canadian Municipalities conference in Toronto.

But they said "nothing has changed" since Locke's last statement. The province's recommendation is not binding, but it has offered up to $30 million a year over five years to help with a transition to a municipal police force.

Mayor refuses to sign NDA

The province's report that recommended the city continue with its transition away from the RCMP was heavily redacted, with Locke refusing to sign a non-disclosure agreement in order to view the unredacted version, and saying the process wasn't transparent enough.

Linda Annis, a Surrey city councillor, said she is concerned the mayor would come to council and make a decision on the city's policing future without all the facts.

"I think it's absolutely incumbent on each and every council member to sign the NDA," she said.

"It's the best way we can get the most information possible when we're moving forward with the decision as important as this."

Lipinski said all decision-makers in the city should review the unredacted version, adding he was "impressed with the comprehensiveness of it."

Annis says there are two ways a council decision on the transition can happen: either in the form of a corporate report to staff at the next meeting on June 5, or as a motion from one of the councillors.

Premier David Eby said at an event Wednesday that the government is making sure the back-and-forth does not affect the delivery of police services in Surrey, and said the report will likely be discussed June 5.

"This is not a decision that will only affect that city," he said, "this is a decision with far greater effects than that, as the report shows."