Surrey police transition report still under wraps as province reviews

SURREY (NEWS 1130) – Plans for Surrey’s new police force remain a secret to residents and according to Mayor Doug McCallum, that’s thanks to the provincial government.

While residents in Surrey have been attending consultation meetings on the new force, not a single detail on the transition has been made public, and the mayor is blaming the province for the lack of transparency. Since the report was sent off to the province earlier this week, no details have been released to the public, including how much a new force would cost.

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Now Mayor Doug McCallum is responding to concerns, saying if it was up to him, he’d release it.

“It should be given out right today but the provincial government has indicated that they want to see the plan. They want to review it first,” he says. “We’re going to encourage the provincial government to let, certainly, most of the report come out in the public.”

Despite this, McCallum remains tight-lipped on details of the report, saying it has to remain under wraps until the province releases it.

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“On cost, I’m not going to say anything at this stage. Those are confidential reports that the province has done.”

McCallum is expecting the provincial government to release the report in about two weeks. He says he’s sure his new force will be approved, adding the promise he made while campaigning is one he intends to deliver.

“We were very clear that we were going to turn to our own city police force,” McCallum says. “We’re going to continue on with that.”