Wally Oppal police transition report outlines how Surrey will replace RCMP
New police force expected to add $19 million to the city's operating budget in 2021, an increase of 10.9%
A highly detailed report — authored by former B.C. attorney general Wally Oppal — that lays out how Surrey will replace the RCMP with a municipal police force has now been made public.
B.C. Solicitor General Mike Farnworth reviewed the document before he officially gave Surrey Mayor Doug McCallum the green light to push forward with the creation of a police board and the hiring of a new police chief.
McCallum expects the Surrey Police Department to begin patrols in April of next year, which Oppal says is an ambitious but attainable timeline.
The new police force is expected to add $19 million to the city's operating budget in 2021, which is an increase of 10.9 per cent, and roughly $40 million in one-time capital and transitional costs.
Coun. Linda Annis says that money would be better spent on hiring more officers and building public amenities.
"The idea that we're going to have a more expensive police force, with fewer officers than we have today, makes no sense," she said.
"Policing is the single biggest item in our city budget, so our taxpayers should have the final say on whether we move to a Surrey Police Department or not."
The 151 page report studies six major aspects of the transition: pensions and collective agreements, recruitment, training, information management and information technology, investigative file continuity and business impacts.
Staffing levels
The Surrey RCMP had 843 officers in 2019, but according to the report, the actual number was 792 because of staffing vacancies.
The RCMP has said in the past that those positions were backfilled, which McCallum disputes.
According to the Surrey Policing Transition Plan, which was completed in May of last year, the new police force will consist of 805 officers, 84 per cent of whom will be constables.
The report doesn't say how many current RCMP officers hold the rank of constable.
The city, however, says the Surrey Police Department will increase frontline patrols by 16 per cent and boost its school liaison and youth officers by nearly a third.
Last month, the union that represents 20,000 RCMP officers across the country called on the city to hold a referendum on whether the RCMP should be replaced.
The National Police Federation made the announcement shortly after it commissioned a poll that suggests more than 80 per cent of Surrey residents support putting the issue to a vote.