Surrey Police Service transition could take years yet

After a lot of ups, downs, and court challenges, the transition from the Surrey RCMP to the Surrey Police Service (SPS) is now just one week away.

But 1130 NewsRadio has learned that Nov. 29 is just a date on the calendar for now — and the full transfer of things like case files and evidence could take as long as two years. 

Surrey Police Service Staff Sgt. Lindsey Houghton says work behind the scenes has ramped up significantly.

“There’s almost daily meetings on… how investigations may transfer over, all the IT infrastructure, phones. All of those things most people and companies take for granted when they move into a new building, so we’re working with the RCMP, the city, and all of the stakeholders on how that looks.”

Next Friday marks the day that the SPS will become the police of jurisdiction (POJ) when the RCMP’s contract expires at midnight.

“What that means is Surrey Police Service will have operational jurisdiction over all the policing within the municipal borders of the City of Surrey. On the 29th, people will see a higher concentration of Surrey Police officers on the frontlines, so officers in uniforms, driving Surrey Police cars in the Whalley City Centre area and the Newton area… and they’ll see higher RCMP officers in Guildford and south and southeast Surrey. Over time, what will happen is there will be fewer RCMP officers as Surrey Police hires more and deploys more.”

Houghton adds that a full takeover will also happen internally as SPS begins quarterbacking specialty units like Major Crimes, Gangs, Robbery, and Arson.

There doesn’t seem to be a lot of concern that unsolved homicides will fall by the wayside as both the RCMP and SPS use the Integrated Homicide Investigation Team (IHIT).

When a person calls 911 on Nov. 29 and on, it’s believed calls will be assigned on a nearly 50/50 split between SPS members and the Mounties.

Right now, there are 464 sworn SPS members.

A look at the SPS take-over timeline 

The lack of details around the transition plan may be surprising considering the idea of moving away from the RCMP was first floated in October 2018.

That’s when former Surrey Mayor Doug McCallum proposed the idea to get rid of the Mounties. However, current Mayor Brenda Locke swept into office two years later, and a big part of her winning platform was to keep the RCMP as the police force of jurisdiction.

In November of 2022, Surrey City Council voted 5-4 to scrap the idea and keep the RCMP.

By the new year, the province was involved, while the SPS continued to hire staff and lure officers away from other local departments.

In April 2023, the B.C. government stepped in and recommended Surrey stay on track with the transition to a municipal force and figure out financial support to help ease the hit on Surrey taxpayers. The recommendation wasn’t binding, so Surrey continued with its plan to keep the RCMP.

In June 2023, Attorney General Mike Farnworth sent a letter to Locke and council to make a final decision. Locke responded by saying the city would not be “bullied” into making a decision.

The city was ordered to continue with the transition, but council voted again to scrap it.

Last October, the city launched a court challenge to stop the transition. A few days later, Farnworth amended the B.C. Police Act so the SPS can be put in charge. Then Premier David Eby weighed in, saying the city’s legal challenge “will not be successful,” and the topic was no longer up for discussion.

In November 2023, Farnworth suspended the entire Surrey Police Board and removed Locke as chair, mandating the transition to be completed.