'Astoundingly arrogant': Surrey RCMP head lambastes city's municipal force

Surrey RCMP Assistant Commissioner Brian Edwards speaks to CTV News on Feb. 28, 2020. (CTV)

The officer in charge of the Surrey RCMP has issued a scathing condemnation of the city's fledgling municipal police force, calling a recent report from the Surrey Police Service "fear mongering."

Assistant Commissioner Brian Edwards released the statement Friday in response to the SPS publishing a report it submitted to the provincial government, which argues in favour of its readiness to become Surrey's "police of jurisdiction."

"Their report makes sweeping and broad generalizations about the RCMP, dedicating a significant portion of their narrative seeking to discredit the RCMP, and questioning the RCMP’s ability to deliver effective policing in Surrey," Edwards wrote in his statement.

"It is truly unfortunate the transition has gotten to a point where SPS continually resorts to fear mongering and I need to respond. However, it is my obligation to ensure residents of Surrey know that Surrey RCMP has and will continue to provide effective policing in this city."

The assistant commissioner took particular umbrage with the SPS report's characterization of RCMP recruiting statistics. The report, which the SPS published on its website Thursday, suggests that Surrey's municipal police force is "the only major police service in Canada that is not challenged in hiring experienced police officers or new recruits," while the RCMP "experiences significant challenges in recruiting." 

Edwards accused the SPS of using "handpicked recruiting statistics" from 2020 and 2021, when he says RCMP recruitment was low due to the COVID-19 pandemic. During 2019, the RCMP Depot graduated a record number of cadets, the assistant commissioner said.

He also disputed a widely reported figure from the Surrey Police Union, which represents Surrey Police Service officers. According to the SPS report, as of Thursday, 95 per cent of SPU members had signed an attestation saying they would not join the RCMP.

Edwards said in his statement that "multiple SPS officers have confidentially approached the RCMP indicating their desire to come over if the RCMP remains in Surrey," though he didn't specify how many had done so.

The assistant commissioner also called the SPS "utterly dependent" on the Surrey RCMP in its current state, and called the service's report "astoundingly arrogant" for questioning whether the RCMP can effectively police the city.

"The people of Surrey don’t need this," Edwards said. "They should have confidence in whichever policing model is utilized in Surrey. SPS’s continued focus on discrediting the RCMP is unprofessional and unbecoming of a police service aiming to serve the second largest city in B.C."

"What I’d like to see, and what we should all expect to see, is an approach to managing the transition that puts public and police officer safety at the forefront. I’m yet to be convinced SPS understands their role in this."

Transitioning from the RCMP to a new, municipal police force was the signature campaign promise of former mayor Doug McCallum when he was elected in 2018.

The province approved the transition and the SPS began deploying officers alongside the RCMP – and under the RCMP's command – in November 2021.

The transition was contentious and controversial throughout McCallum's term, and ending it became the key campaign promise of recently elected Mayor Brenda Locke.

City councillors voted 6-3 in favour of scrapping the transition and keeping the Surrey RCMP earlier this month, with a report from city staff saying the change would save taxpayers $235.4 million over five years. 

The SPS disputes this estimate. Speaking to The Canadian Press on Thursday, SPS Chief Norm Lipinski estimated it would cost “roughly $18.9 million more a year” for a municipal force, an expense that works out to less than $100 million over five years, or less than half the staff report's estimate.

Lipinski said that while the municipal force comes with a higher price tag, it also allows for more local accountability as well as more flexibility that allows for quicker reform.

“It's much slower in the federal government system,” he said. “We can do that very quickly. This is all an investment.”

Lipinski told The Canadian Press that the SPS created its report because it didn't have a chance to make its case to city council.

The report said reversing the transition would mean firing 375 employees, dissolving two police unions and accepting “unrecoverable” sunk costs of $107 million.

“The main point that I would like to make is that we're too far down the road,” Lipinski said, adding it would have a major human cost.

“There is no RCMP person that was terminated or laid off because of this transition (to the municipal service), but it won't work that way if you reverse it.”

With files from The Canadian Press