Surrey Coun. Linda Annis is warning Metro Vancouver communities like Burnaby to expect the proposed Surrey Police Service to “poach” police officers from their local police departments.
“The National Police Federation says just 14% of Surrey’s RCMP officers are prepared to join the proposed Surrey Police Service, far fewer than Doug McCallum was counting on,” said Annis, in a news release. “Replacing more than 800 RCMP officers is no easy task and this recent survey should worry not just the people of Surrey, but also residents in other communities.
“If these numbers don’t change, Surrey will have no choice but to start poaching officers from other communities, something that will be an issue right across the region. Police forces are always recruiting and it’s never easy. Also, the Justice Institute, which trains recruits for municipal forces in B.C., cannot train enough officers in time to meet the demand in Surrey, which is on top of the ongoing recruiting and training demands of other police departments.”
The new Surrey police board will start hiring officers by the end of September and McCallum has maintained his previous assertion there will be a “dual force” for some months, from the previously planned launch of April 2021.
McCallum has also frozen new police officer hiring (for Surrey RCMP) over the past two years, citing the transition. It’s unclear if the city will see a third year of hiring freezes.
- With files from Graeme Wood
