The British Columbia government has established a target date for the Surrey Police Service (SPS) to assume policing and law enforcement in the city. The SPS will start to be the police of jurisdiction on November 29, where it will become responsible for policing and law enforcement on behalf of the City of Surrey. The BC RCMP will remain active in Surrey, providing support to the SPS until the transition is completed, with them working together under a temporary operational co-operation and assistance agreement. “The people of Surrey have told us they want this to be over,” said BC Public Safety Minister and Solicitor General Mike Farnworth in a Tuesday press release.“We agree and we’re taking action to ensure safety and certainty for people in Surrey.”Farnworth said people’s safety in Surrey and BC “is non-negotiable and today I am setting the target date for the SPS becoming police of jurisdiction in Surrey — the next step toward completing this transition, which the city is required by law to do.”The BC government acknowledged this date was identified after careful consideration of public safety, the progress completed to date and the significant work underway to finalize the transition. This includes identifying and operationalizing transitional supports to be provided by the BC RCMP, approving the SPS’s hiring plan and other steps necessary to ensure it meets the practical and statutory requirements to become Surrey’s police of jurisdiction. “Surrey Police Service has been preparing for the change of police of jurisdiction date for over three years and we continue to work diligently to ensure SPS is prepared to transition into this role on Nov. 29, 2024,” said SPS Chief Constable Norm Lipinski. “We are excited to be building an outstanding municipal police service that is tailor-made for Surrey and we are honoured to serve the residents and business owners of Surrey.”In the coming weeks, it said Farnworth will issue a notice to the City of Surrey terminating the Municipal Police Unit Agreement. This is an agreement between BC and municipalities that have RCMP detachments as their local police service. BC RCMP Deputy Commissioner Dwayne McDonald said it “is proud of its service to British Columbia and is committed to working closely with the Surrey Police Service and the Government of British Columbia to maintain public safety throughout the transition.”“I want to thank the RCMP members who have served the City of Surrey with honour,” said McDonald. On March 27, provincial and federal officials agreed to a pathway that will allow the BC RCMP to provide temporary transitional supports to the SPS for the remainder of the transition period. These transitional supports will be determined and delivered through an operational co-operation and assistance arrangement and provincial and federal officials will continue their work finalizing this pathway in collaboration with the SPS and the BC RCMP. While the BC RCMP will continue to work through the transition, the Surrey RCMP will cease providing municipal policing services when the agreement is terminated and the SPS becomes the police of jurisdiction. From this point forward, any required RCMP support and assistance will be provided by the BC division. The BC government directed the City of Surrey to move forward with the SPS and scrap the RCMP in July. READ MORE: UPDATED: BC government mandates Surrey use municipal police service, boot RCMP“People’s safety in Surrey and across the province is non-negotiable,” said Farnworth. “The city has failed to meet the requirements I placed to prevent a situation where there are not enough police officers to keep people safe in Surrey.”
