The debate concerning whether Surrey should embrace its own municipal police force was decided on Wednesday by Public Safety Minister Mike Farnworth.
Citing his authority over the Police Act, Farnworth ordered the municipality to transition to the Surrey Police Service (SPS), effectively ending the RCMP’s jurisdiction in the area.
“Unfortunately, the City of Surrey has failed to meet mandatory requirements to go back to the RCMP,” Farnworth said.
Farnworth also asked all parties involved to engage in “essential” cooperation to complete Surrey’s shift to a municipal police force.
In response to the decision, Mayor Brenda Locke, who campaigned to reverse the transition plan, blasted Farnworth’s decision.
“The actions of the solicitor general should serve as a warning to the autonomy of all municipalities in B.C.,” claimed Locke.
Farnwroth has since hit back, claiming he was confident in his office’s powers to force the matter.
“I’m very confident in the legal authority on which this decision is made,” said Farnworth.
The provincial government has promised Surrey with $150 million in funding to help offset the $8 million a month cost of transitioning the forces.
Currently there are 400 officers working for the SPS and another 500 still at the Surrey RCMP branch.
According to Farnworth, the city failed to convince the federal government that reversing the transition wouldn’t impact other jurisdictions by relying on their resources.
“Officers would be pulled from other units, creating RCMP staffing deficits in other parts of the province,” he said.
“This means pulling officers from the Major Crimes Section, and their unit that deals with organized crime. It means pulling officers from Highway Patrol, decreasing traffic enforcement and monitoring. These services are critical to the safety of everyone in British Columbia.”
