Surrey Police Service (SPS) became the police of jurisdiction in Surrey on November 29, 2024. This week, SPS completed 60 days of command responsibilities for policing and public safety.

Over the past 60 days, SPS frontline officers have responded to over 18,000 calls for service in the Whalley/City Centre and Newton policing districts, which represents 60% of the total calls for service in the City of Surrey. As the policing transition advances, SPS continues to work collaboratively with the RCMP Surrey Provincial Operations Support Unit (SPOSU) which is temporarily managing policing operations in Guildford, Cloverdale, and South Surrey. SPS has also assumed city-wide responsibility for 9-1-1 and non-emergency call response and dispatch, police information checks, and other public front counter services.

SPS has also grown its team significantly over the past two months, with the addition of 39 sworn police officers and 391 civilian employees, most of whom transferred to SPS from the City of Surrey as part of the policing transition. SPS now has almost 950 staff, with plans to hire over 100 more sworn and civilian staff this year as we continue to ramp up to full strength over the next 2-3 years.

One of the first operational changes SPS made, was to initiate a Community Safety Operations Centre (CSOC) which provides live time, 24/7 supervision and monitoring of all incidents taking place in the city. The CSOC allows public safety information to be immediately shared with policing personnel as well as with the public with SPS’s 24/7 on-call model for media relations. Resources and incident responses are also coordinated through the CSOC for SPS and our policing partners.

SPS has also launched new District Inspector positions, as part of our community-focused policing model. District Inspectors work out of a Community Police Office and are responsible for facilitating neighbourhood contact, and working with local residents, businesses, and organizations to prevent and address crime and nuisance behaviour in their policing district. Insp. Ben Rodrigue is the District Inspector for Whalley/City Centre and Insp. Sukh Sidhu has taken on this role for Newton. Additional District Inspectors will be assigned to the other districts as SPS takes on operations in those areas.

SPS’s Road Safety Section is launching an Impaired Driving Unit comprised of officers who are trained Drug Recognition Experts (DRE) and Breath Test Analysis (BTA) operators. This dedicated unit will focus on removing drivers impaired by drugs or alcohol – some of the most dangerous driving offences – from our roads.

Technology and innovation continue to move forward at SPS with body-worn cameras and drones moving into the testing phase. In addition, biometric sensors will be installed in detention areas to improve the safety of those taken into custody by police. SPS is also utilizing a Digital Evidence Management System (DEMS) that will make the submission and collection of valuable video and digital evidence easier for both police and the public.

“I am very proud of the work that the Surrey Police Service team of civilian staff and police officers has done over the past two months since we become the police of jurisdiction,” said Chief Constable Norm Lipinski. “In the months ahead, we plan to continue to grow our team, take on more operational policing responsibilities in the city, and launch additional community focused initiatives and collaboration.”

You can learn more about Surrey Police Service, including information about the policing transition, at www.surreypolice.ca/about.