Surrey should ’embrace’ move to municipal police: former SG

SURREY (NEWS 1130) — Surrey should embrace the opportunity to build a police department from the ground up, says former B.C. solicitor general Kash Heed.

His support comes as many are calling for police reforms.

“It gives Surrey an incredible opportunity to divest from its current, problematic policing model,” Heed said of the transition.

“They are basically starting from a blank white sheet of paper. They can build a model that addresses so much of the concerns that are being raised.”

Calls for defunding the police include fewer officers on streets, which Heed said could work, “utilizing other resources, whether it’s youth services, whether it’s mental health.”

He added: “It’s how you deploy those officers, how you set the policies.”

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However, Coun. Linda Annis said more officers are needed on Surrey streets.

“We, as a city, have one of the fewest police-to-population ratios in Canada,” she said.

READ ALSO: Replacing RCMP not a priority for Surrey residents during pandemic: poll

Annis added the transition should be paused, adding the city doesn’t have the money to make the transition from the RCMP.

Coun. Brenda Locke agreed with Annis.

“We are about 300 officers short in Surrey,” Locke said. “We need more officers in Surrey.”

The Surrey Police Department is to begin operating in April 2021.

The City of Surrey has spent $1.6 million towards the total wages of staff working on the police transition this year alone.

Earlier this year, the province gave final approval to Surrey’s transition to a municipal police force from the RCMP.

“I’m also very concerned that $129.6 million is being spent on the transition,” Annis said then. “This is money that could be going into rec centres, more police officers, more firefighters. It’s not good utilization of taxpayers’ money. I’m also very concerned about the amount of the budget. We don’t know what we’re getting and we don’t know how much it’s going to cost.”