Surrey transition from RCMP begins Friday

The long-awaited day has finally arrived as the City of Surrey gave the reigns to their new municipal police service Friday morning. 

After a 6-year saga, the Surrey Police Service (SPS) finally took over jurisdiction from the Surrey RCMP at 12:01 a.m.

SPS Staff Sgt. Lindsey Houghton says Surrey residents reporting an emergency likely won’t notice any difference.

“You just call 911. If it’s an emergency for the police, the police will respond no matter where you are in the city of Surrey,” said Houghton.

He says a higher concentration of SPS officers will be stationed in areas like Whalley and Newton.

But residents can also still expect to see RCMP officers in the city for the next couple of years assisting the SPS, until they’re fully staffed.

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

Both the RCMP and SPS rely on the Integrated Homicide Investigation Team (IHIT) for homicide investigations.

“[Residents will] 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,” said Houghton.

There are currently 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.