Surrey Mayor Brenda Locke said she will not be abiding by the British Columbia government’s request to move towards the Surrey Police Service (SPS). ."The BC Police Act states clearly: The choice of police is under the purview of the municipality," Locke told CTV News Vancouver on Friday. .Elected on a promise to keep the RCMP in Surrey, she vowed to continue to do that. She slammed BC Public Safety Minister and Solicitor General Mike Farnworth for a decision she called “extraordinarily disrespectful.” .The BC government encouraged the city to follow through on its transition from the RCMP to the SPS on Friday because it provides public safety for the city and throughout the province..READ MORE: BC government recommends continuing transition away from RCMP in Surrey.“Everyone deserves to be safe in their community and all British Columbians deserve secure, stable policing they can count on,” said Farnworth. .“The people of Surrey are very frustrated by years of uncertainty over this debate, but we must move forward without reducing police presence when we need it the most.” .The BC government said the city’s decision to continue down that path will not have financial support from it and would be subject to several binding conditions to ensure adequate levels of policing are maintained. .Locke confirmed Surrey city council made the decision. .“We made it five months ago,” she said. .“And our decision has not changed.” .Surrey city council voted in November to keep the RCMP, inching towards Locke’s goal of axing the transition towards the SPS. .READ MORE: Future of policing in Surrey uncertain following council vote to keep RCMP.The nine Surrey councillors were presented with a motion to choose the RCMP or SPS to run policing in the city, and council voted 5-4 in favour of the former..“Tonight’s vote not only affirms my promise to restore Surrey RCMP as police of jurisdiction, but it will finally reveal the costs of the transition, which will be made available to the public,” she said.
