Surrey RCMP not concerned about meeting staffing targets after council decision

Surrey Mayor Brenda Locke and her allies on city council have chosen to stop the transition to a municipal police force after a closed-door vote Thursday night.

The decision means RCMP will be the police force of jurisdiction in Surrey, as long as the province signs off on the city’s plan.

• Read more: Surrey, B.C., council votes to keep RCMP, rejecting municipal force

The plan must explain how the RCMP will hire staff, as it won’t be allowed to poach officers from other jurisdictions. That rule is part of the binding conditions laid out by the province after it made its recommendation to continue with the transition to the Surrey Police Service in April.

RCMP Assistant Commissioner Brian Edwards isn’t concerned by the restrictions, after a key operational change was made this year.

"The biggest structural change that was made in January of this year is that if you're (an RCMP recruit) coming from British Columbia you're coming back to British Columbia if that's what you want to do – so, we've never allowed people to come back to their home province and provided that guarantee,” Edwards said during a media briefing following Locke’s decision.

There are 544 officers working for the RCMP in Surrey. The detachment will need to get up to 734 with the SPS being disbanded.

“I’ve indicated that we’ll meet those targets with the cadets and we are overachieving with our targets with experienced police officers. We'll fill that gap,” he said.

Edwards says cadets will begin to be hired from the RCMP depot by mid-summer, after a pause during the decision-making process.

He says so far 12 SPS members are in the process of switching to the RCMP, and 81 have confirmed their interest.

“We need some finalization and we need some closure on this and I think we’re getting closer to that,” he said.

Public Safaety Minister Mike Farnworth says he will review the city’s plan and come back with a decision on provincial approval within weeks. 

• Read more: Province reviewing Surrey police plan to ensure it's 'effective and adequate,' minister says