Surrey Police Service (SPS) has concluded its second comprehensive community consultation. The results of the feedback from residents, stakeholders, and community groups have been gathered into an 2024 SPS Community Consultation Executive Summary.pdf of the extensive work that can be found on the SPS website.

Similar to the first SPS community consultation in 2021, this consultation had three components: a community survey of residents, interviews, and focus groups with key community stakeholders. The timing of these two consultations created a unique opportunity to assess community sentiment at two critical junctures in the development of SPS: at the outset of the transition (2021) and just prior to SPS becoming the police of jurisdiction on November 29, 2024. As a result, the 2024 community consultation report reflects not only the new data, but the consistent themes identified though both projects.

“Feedback from the community and our willingness to act upon it, are integral to the success of Surrey Police Service,” said SPS Chief Constable Norm Lipinski. “SPS will work to deliver on the priorities identified in this community consultation in order to provide residents with a progressive, top tier police service.”

Several key themes emerged from the consultations, including:

1. Police Visibility – SPS should be highly visible and accessible in the community order to create a sense of safety and to build trust in SPS.  
2. Community Engagement – Officers need to be connected and responsive to the community to build relationships and help residents understand current issues and police response.
3. Crime and Social Issues – Issues pertaining to housing, vulnerable populations, and gangs need to be addressed as they have significant negative impacts to feelings of safety.  
4. Addressing Perceptions of Safety – Provide information to the public and work to promote the positive happenings in the community, in addition to sharing crime issues and trends.
5. Early Intervention and Prevention – Strong support for school liaison officers who can support prevention and intervention efforts with youth. It was noted that this type of police-school involvement must be managed carefully and involve the right type of officers.
6. Community-Focused Service Delivery – SPS needs to provide a professional but “human” approach to policing where community members are given a voice, and officers embody the values of honour, integrity, and respect.
7. Officer Training and Accountability – Trauma-informed practice and cultural training are critical components of officer training. Accountability systems must be in place, and the civilian police board must be made up of the right people. Strong support for body-worn cameras.
8. Timely Response and Localized Delivery – SPS must have the appropriate level of resources to deliver policing services and timely call response, and to deploy officers at the neighbourhood level.

The primary recommendations for SPS included:

1. Develop a community policing model that is reflective of the community being served.
2. Use the findings from the 2024 Community Consultation to inform SPS policies and decision-making going forward.
3. Recognize the unique needs of each community and create a customized, collaborative community approach in each policing district.  
4. Ensure external environmental needs are aligned with internal organizational culture, structure, and climate.
5. Ensure ongoing comprehensive external environmental scans and impact analyses to assess risk-impacts and community policing opportunities.

SPS will now utilize this feedback to inform its 2025 SPS Strategic Plan. The priorities identified by residents, stakeholders, and community groups will be the guide for SPS to set objectives that will be quantitatively and qualitatively measurable. SPS remains committed to regular consultation with the community to help guide and inform our policing service to the community.

The 2024 community consultation was conducted for SPS by Curt T. Griffiths, Ph.D., Simon Fraser University, Stephanie Dawson, Ph.D., Dawson Analytics, and Eli L. Sopow, Ph.D., University Canada West.

SPS 2021 and 2024 Community Consultations can be found at www.surreypolice.ca/publications.