B.C. government directs Surrey to keep municipal police force, abandon RCMP

The long tug-of-war over policing in B.C.'s second-largest city could be coming to an end after the provincial government directed Surrey to move forward with a municipal force, rather than revert back to the RCMP.

Announcing the decision on Wednesday, Public Safety Minister Mike Farnworth said Surrey officials were given two chances to prove they could maintain adequate law enforcement staffing while reversing the city's transition to the Surrey Police Service, and were unable to do so.

"Unfortunately, the City of Surrey has failed to meet mandatory requirements to go back to the RCMP," Farnworth said at a news conference. "That puts people at risk."

Provincial officials expressed concerns that transitioning between police forces again – roughly three years after the SPS was established, and less than two years after the first officers began patrolling the streets – could trigger a law enforcement crisis extended beyond the city's borders.

Farnworth said he was "deeply concerned" there would be an exodus of SPS officers amid the transition that would leave an inadequate number of boots on the ground in Surrey.

Officials also feared that re-staffing the Surrey RCMP would require hiring officers employed in other communities that are already facing their own staffing problems.

Farnworth said Surrey officials were unable to convince him that wouldn't be the case.

"Officers would be pulled from other units, creating RCMP staffing deficits in other parts of the province," he said.

"This means pulling officers from the Major Crimes Section, and their unit that deals with organized crime. It means pulling officers from Highway Patrol, decreasing traffic enforcement and monitoring. These services are critical to the safety of everyone in British Columbia."

There are currently approximately 1,500 "hard and soft" vacancies at B.C. RCMP detachments, according to the government, stretching their policing resources thin.

The minister said co-operation between the City of Surrey, the SPS and the RCMP would be "essential" as the city moves forward, and called on all parties to work together in the name of public safety.

Surrey Mayor Brenda Locke campaigned in the last municipal election on a promise to reverse the city's policing transition, which was overseen by former mayor Doug McCallum, and has remained determined to do so, despite pushback from the province.

In a statement issued after Farnworth's news conference, Locke condemned the province's decision as "disappointing, misguided and based on inaccurate assumptions."

Locke said the government's requirements set Surrey up to fail, and accused the province of "undermining" a duly elected municipal government.

"The actions of the solicitor general should serve as a warning to the autonomy of all municipalities in B.C.," she said.

The mayor said she would not be speaking publicly on the matter Tuesday.

Reporters asked Farnworth whether he expects a legal challenge to his decision from the City of Surrey, something Locke's statement neither suggested was likely nor ruled out.

"I'm very confident in the legal authority on which this decision is made," Farnworth said.

To oversee the process of moving forward with the SPS, Farnworth appointed Jessica McDonald – a deputy minister under former B.C. premier Gordon Campbell – as a "strategic implementation advisor."

McDonald will help the parties "meet timelines, facilitate dispute resolution, and ensure effective communication and completion of the transition," the Ministry of Public Safety said in a statement.

There are currently more than 400 sworn officers working for the SPS, alongside upwards of 500 working for the Surrey RCMP. Keeping both forces operating has been costing the city $8 million per month.

An independent financial analysis commissioned by the B.C. government determined that fully staffing the SPS with the 700-plus officers required would cost $30 million more annually than the Surrey RCMP – but that disbanding the SPS would cost Surrey $72 million in severance pay.

Earlier this year, the B.C. government offered $150 million to help offset the additional costs of running the SPS. The Ministry of Public Safety said the province remains committed to providing that funding.

With files from CTV News Vancouver's Regan Hasegawa and Ian Holliday