Surrey Mayor Brenda Locke says the 乌鸦传媒渓eadership ball乌鸦传媒� is now in the provincial government乌鸦传媒檚 court concerning the city乌鸦传媒檚 policing transition after council peppered Chief Constable Norm Lipinski of the Surrey Police Service and Assistant Commissioner Brian Edwards of the Surrey RCMP with roughly an hour乌鸦传媒檚 worth of questions about its current state on Monday night.
乌鸦传媒淲e乌鸦传媒檝e heard today that there is much to be done to get the framework and all the legal agreements in place,乌鸦传媒� Locke said, summing up the hour. 乌鸦传媒淭he city has no authority to do any of that. We cannot just make up the authority, we don乌鸦传媒檛 have that right. The province needs to make sure that there is a plan, that there is a path forward.乌鸦传媒�
乌鸦传媒淭his council has done everything asked of us and within our authority to follow through on our obligation to determine the policing model for our city,乌鸦传媒� she said. 乌鸦传媒淢uch of the issue that we are dealing with are provincial and federal issues and that has become a lot of the stall.乌鸦传媒�
Locke stressed that if the NDP provincial government wants the transition to happen, 乌鸦传媒渋t needs to step up, show leadership and do their job.乌鸦传媒� She said she乌鸦传媒檚 repeatedly asked for the plan, has to date sent six letters to provincial government officials, among them Public Safety Minister Mike Farnworth and Premier David Eby, 乌鸦传媒渁nd seen nothing.乌鸦传媒�
乌鸦传媒淚 have also never heard of why we had our plan rejected (to stick with the RCMP),乌鸦传媒� Locke added.
A corporate report before Surrey council Monday night (Sept. 11) revealed there is still 乌鸦传媒渘o clear plan, or any supporting documents in place, to continue a transition乌鸦传媒� to the SPS from the Surrey RCMP as this city乌鸦传媒檚 police of jurisdiction.
乌鸦传媒淎s a result, there remains a great deal of uncertainty regarding how a transition to SPS would be completed,乌鸦传媒� the report reads.
The corporate report before council concludes that although Farnworth has directed the City of Surrey to forge ahead with the SPS, 乌鸦传媒渙utstanding challenges remain乌鸦传媒� and development of a 乌鸦传媒渃omprehensive framework and planning documents is necessary for any transition to SPS.乌鸦传媒�
On July 19 Farnworth ordered city council to carry on with the transition to the Surrey Police Service from the Surrey RCMP, despite council having voted 6-3 on Dec. 12 to maintain the RCMP as the city乌鸦传媒檚 police of jurisdiction.
Farnworth then appointed Jessica McDonald as the province乌鸦传媒檚 Strategic Implementation Advisor to oversee the transition. In August, Chris Donnelly, a public affairs officer for the Ministry of Public Safety and Solicitor General, told the Now-Leader that McDonald 乌鸦传媒渋s unavailable for interviews乌鸦传媒� and Donnelly emailed a statement attributable to the ministry that 乌鸦传媒淭he work by the new Strategic Implementation Advisor to advance the transition is well underway,乌鸦传媒� and that the ministry 乌鸦传媒渨ill continue to keep stakeholders informed as the work progresses.乌鸦传媒�
Monday乌鸦传媒檚 corporate report 乌鸦传媒� by Terry Waterhouse, general manager of community services, Kam Grewal, general manager of finance, and Joey Brar, acting general manager of corporate services 乌鸦传媒� notes that the continued deployment of SPS officers into the Surrey RCMP will require another extension of an assignment agreement past Sept. 30 and the $150 million Farnworth promised from the provincial government to help with costs related to the transition 乌鸦传媒渋s likely not sufficient to cover anticipated costs.乌鸦传媒�
Grewal told council Monday that none of that $150 million has yet been allocated to the City of Surrey. 乌鸦传媒淚n fact I would take a step back and say the city has not received any funding from the province in relation to the transition,乌鸦传媒� Grewal said. 乌鸦传媒淚 am aware of the public announcement, the public pledge of $150 million which I have on many occasions have said is not enough to cover the damages done to the city both historically and a go-forward basis. As of now, it乌鸦传媒檚 all hypothetical.乌鸦传媒�
The corporate report notes 乌鸦传媒渙utstanding challenges include, but are not limited to, the lack of a joint HR Plan to guide deployments and demobilization, the Assignment Agreement needs to be extended beyond September 2023, and the lack of legal frameworks to support RCMP Members serving under a municipal police department command.乌鸦传媒�
Moreover, new governance and project management structures must also be established.
乌鸦传媒淭here is also a need to confirm plans for asset transfer or sharing, occupancy of facilities, and file and exhibit transfer, among others,乌鸦传媒� the report reads.
Coun. Rob Stutt asked Edwards where the transition is at in following a plan, and given that progress, when the SPS will be in the position to become Surrey乌鸦传媒檚 police of jurisdiction.
乌鸦传媒淎t this point in time we do not have a plan that is being followed,乌鸦传媒� Edwards replied. 乌鸦传媒淎 plan is going to have to be developed between the parties, and the architecture to build that plan is going to need to be developed. So for me, it is impossible to provide you with a timeline.乌鸦传媒�
Edwards said 233 SPS officers were either deployed or set to be deployed to the Surrey RCMP but currently there are 乌鸦传媒渁pproximately 179乌鸦传媒� and 38 Surrey Mounties have left the RCMP to join the SPS.
Lipinski said about 45 per cent of the frontline right now are SPS people. Asked how many officers he thinks he actually needs, Lipinski replied he hasn乌鸦传媒檛 乌鸦传媒渄etermined that specifically.乌鸦传媒�
乌鸦传媒淩ight now, our planning prior to the election (Oct. 15, 2022) was to look at 734, which is what is authorized to Surrey right now. So as we move forward 734 plus 25, I know that乌鸦传媒檚 been in the budget for Surrey detachment, that would be the number I乌鸦传媒檇 be looking at but there乌鸦传媒檚 still some planning that needs to take place.乌鸦传媒�
Stutt asked Lipinski, 乌鸦传媒淚乌鸦传媒檓 going to ask you, sir, does the SPS have a plan to move forward?乌鸦传媒�
Lipinski replied that for the public乌鸦传媒檚 benefit it乌鸦传媒檚 important to give context. 乌鸦传媒淭wo and a half years when I started this, there was a plan 乌鸦传媒� there was an HR plan, there was an assignment agreement which is an agreement between ourselves and the RCMP, but let乌鸦传媒檚 stick with the HR plan,乌鸦传媒� he said, which had 35 SPS officers being deployed every second month. 乌鸦传媒淎nd so when the election happened we put a pause on that, and it was agreed by three levels of government so we missed out on a number of cohorts. And then the HR plan expired May 31. And when we were looking ahead at that time we did look at all the things we would want to bring to Surrey and we have in fact started researching some of that. There乌鸦传媒檚 no need to bring it forward to the public at this time because we are not police of jurisdiction. When we get there, we will bring that forward.乌鸦传媒�
Stutt asked Lipinski 乌鸦传媒淚s there a plan or not? It乌鸦传媒檚 a yes or no question.乌鸦传媒� Lipinski said 乌鸦传媒淲e are in the beginnings of putting together a plan for 2024. I believe that we乌鸦传媒檒l be moving forward rather quickly here.乌鸦传媒�
He said that 11 more SPS officers were set to 乌鸦传媒済o over to the front line乌鸦传媒� on Tuesday morning.
Edwards said there is significant work to be done as there is no plan for transfer of assets (ie. patrol cars), a legal framework outside of an MOU, no plan for information management, information technology, no plan for the transfer of hundreds of thousands of files, and no plan for exhibits. Given the priority of moving officers to the frontline, he said, 乌鸦传媒淲e are waiting and working with SPS for a plan to get us to Dec. 31. We cannot piecemeal this, we have to do a fulsome plan.乌鸦传媒�
Meantime, Coun. Linda Annis noted that having two police departments is costing Surrey taxpayers $266,000 per day. She called the report 乌鸦传媒渄isappointing because it reflects a serious lack of urgency and no political enthusiasm or leadership to get the transition done quickly.乌鸦传媒�
乌鸦传媒淚 get it, the mayor wanted to keep the RCMP, but that ship has sailed,乌鸦传媒� Annis stated in a press release Monday, charging that Mayor Brenda Locke and council 乌鸦传媒渘eed to step up乌鸦传媒� and instruct city staff and the SPS 乌鸦传媒渢o get on with completing the transition as quickly as possible.乌鸦传媒�
Also on Monday, Sept. 11 a press release issued by the SPS bid welcome to its fifth class of recruits. On Sept. 8th, the SPS officially welcomed seven new recruit constables, who will now begin their municipal police officer training at the Justice Institute of British Columbia (JIBC).
乌鸦传媒淭his group consists of four females and three males, ranging in age from 25 to 38 years of age,乌鸦传媒� the press release states. 乌鸦传媒淎ll the recruits have a connection to Surrey 乌鸦传媒� either as residents or through past employment, as well as extensive volunteering experience. They also reflect the diversity of the community they will serve, with different cultural backgrounds and language skills.乌鸦传媒�
tom.zytaruk@surreynowleader.com
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