RCMP union concerned with rising costs behind Surrey’s police transition budget

SURREY (NEWS 1130) — The union for RCMP members says it has serious concerns with projected costs related to the now-delayed police transition plan for Surrey as the city’s finance committee budget meeting is set to meet Monday.

The National Police Federation (NPF), which represents 20,000 Mounties across Canada, submitted a document to the City of Surrey’s Finance Committee outlining its issues with the rising costs to get the municipal police force going.

“Surrey says the police transition will now be delayed to the end of 2022, but it still has not provided the level of detail required to show how it will afford this expensive transition,” NPF President Brian Sauvé said in a release. “While projected transition costs have tripled from $19 million to $64 million, the city has not provided a breakdown of costs by category and has provided no additional information to explain the overall cost increase. The public deserves a full accounting of these additional costs that are driving significant tax increases.”

RELATED: RCMP want Surrey to show millions in ‘hidden costs’ for police transition

According to the NPF, Surrey’s financial plan for 2021 does not provide clear transitional costs for a new IT system, training new officers, legal fees related to running a new police service, investigative file continuity, and collective agreement.

The NPF points to other areas where it says costs haven’t been considered, such as the price of policing significant events, additional vehicles, admin costs, and getting rid of the RCMP’s tax exemption status. Money for Veterans Affairs Canada benefits and Integrated Homicide Investigative Teams is also raising questions.

“There’s no question that Surrey’s plan is in complete disarray, and that is precisely why their plan has been delayed,” said Sauvé. “The mayor and his team overpromised, under-budgeted, and have failed to do the work required for this expensive and unpopular transition.”

It’s not the first time the NPF has raised concerns with Surrey’s police budget. In September, it brought up costs that would come with the municipal transition, point out that the price for IT had already ballooned by $500,000.

Meanwhile, the Surrey Board of Trade is calling on the city to pause its police transition plan because of the economic situation due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

At the beginning of August, the Surrey Police Board officially approved a motion to create the municipal police service.