Following the recent municipal election, Surrey Police Service (SPS) is looking forward to working with the new Mayor and Council who have been elected by Surrey residents. Part of this work will involve updating the new Surrey City Council on the continuing development of SPS and the status of the policing transition, which is progressing well under the direction of the three levels of government.

While SPS understands that not all members of the newly elected City Council are supportive of the policing transition, and specifically the process undertaken by the previous council to change Surrey’s policing model, we reiterate that SPS is focused on public safety, not politics.

The building of SPS is already well-underway with millions of dollars invested, union agreements in place, 350 staff employed by the Surrey Police Board, and over 150 SPS officers providing operational police service to Surrey. We welcome fulsome discussions with Mayor and Council, however any decision to change course on Surrey’s policing model would require the approval of the Province of BC, who approved Surrey’s change to a municipal police service in 2019.

SPS is confident in what it has built over the past two years. SPS is governed by an independent civilian board and has been built through the hard work of hundreds of individuals who are committed to creating a police service that is tailored to Surrey residents.

“I offer my congratulations to Surrey’s new Mayor and Councillors. I firmly believe Council will see the benefits that municipal policing brings to Surrey and realize the significant financial and human investments that have been put into making Surrey Police Service a reality,” says Chief Constable Norm Lipinski. “In 2020 we received a mandate to create a local police service tailored to Surrey’s public safety needs, and we will continue to move forward in fulfilling that mandate.”

As the second largest municipal police agency in BC, SPS continues to build a modern police service that focuses on community policing, meaningful public engagement, and taking care of our people so they can take care of the community.  

For more information on Surrey’s policing transition, visit www.surreypolice.ca/SPSpolicing-transition.