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Brenda Locke, mayoral candidate of Surrey Connect recently announced policy of keeping the RCMP that will save Surrey half billion over the next 4 years. On the other hand, Surrey Police Service (SPS) announced that it has deployed 35 more SPS officers brining the total number of SPS officers who have been deployed into policing operations to 155. These 35 new officers will soon begin responding to calls from Surrey residents.
With this massive recruitment on its way and SPS already being one of the largest municipal police forces of BC, will it be wise on any mayor to go back to original RCMP?
According to Police Resources in British Columbia SPS has already become the third largest municipal police agency in the province after Vancouver and Victoria.
SPS informed that it has now has 352 employees, with 298 sworn police officers and 54 civilians. “Of our 298 officers, 155 have been deployed, 28 are recruits in training, 28 are in our experienced officer training, and the remainder are doing critical work that includes recruiting, IT, training, community consultation, and policy development,” informed Ian MacDonald, Surrey Police Service.
Standing up a police service of this size requires an effective and efficient human resources mechanism to compliment the operational priority that is demanded by public safety and calls for service in a large city.
“The efforts of our officers on the front lines and our civilian and police staff in building this progressive, community focused police service for the citizens of Surrey, is unprecedented,” said Chief Constable Norm Lipinski. “We have the right people; we have ambitious but achievable objectives; and we are well on our way to becoming the police of jurisdiction for Surrey.”
