'Homes not cops,' chants Surrey group concerned over police spending

A protest group in Surrey says police spending in the city is coming at the expense of housing and community programming.

Chanting "homes not cops, homes not cops," the group called Anti-Police Power Surrey stalled traffic in Surrey Saturday as they marched along 104 Avenue to city hall and then to the RCMP detachment on King George Boulevard in Whalley.

Dave Diewert, a long time activist, says the group formed shortly after new Surrey Mayor Doug McCallum was elected on the promise to replace the city's RCMP with a municipal police force.

"Policing will never solve the root causes of the social tensions that we call crime," he said.

McCallum's campaign resonated with voters as the city grapples with drugs and gang violence.

Kwantlen Polytechnic criminology professor Jeff Shantz says though that McCallum's message justified increased spending by playing on fears of gang violence. 

"The cops are eating up far too many of our social and public resources," he said. "We need those resources in our communities to sustain ourselves."

Surrey is the largest RCMP detachment in the country with more than 1,000 officers, support staff and volunteers according to the RCMP's website. 

The federal government picks up 10 per cent of Surrey's policing bill but the city will lose that funding when it cuts ties with the RCMP.

Surrey's police budget will grow to one hundred and seventy million dollars next year.

McCallum has promised to have the new force in place by two years, but experts are doubtful of the timeline.

Meanwhile Anti-Police Power Surrey promises to continue pushing to have money diverted from police budgets to pay for community centres and youth programs.

Its members say those resources would better address the root causes of crime and violence in Surrey than increased policing.

With files from Jon Hernandez