If you read or heard the news Surrey refuses to pay for 10 new police officers, here is what they didn't tell you.
First of all, the 10 new employees are not police officers, but people with no police experience starting to train at the Justice Institute. I agree they need to be paid, but there is a lot more to the story. Chief Lipinski will not take orders from the Surrey Police Board or the Mayors office. He continues to ignore all their orders.
On August 24, Brenda Locke, Mayor, sent a letter (copy below) to Chief Lipinski, telling him not to hire any additional officers or trainees until all the officers on the payroll be deployed. Many police trained officers are on the payroll but not on the street.
From Surrey Now Leader - September 14, 2023:
"Should they be deployed, there’s 27 that can be deployed. We have not figured out the plan to implement them, deploy them into Surrey detachment.”
From Vancouver is Awesome - October 13, 2023:
“The SPS has hired an additional 132 officers that are receiving full compensation but have not been deployed, greatly adding to the significant financial burden faced by the City of Surrey,” said Locke in a public letter to Farnworth Friday.
Minister Farnworth will not return Mayor Brenda Locke's phone calls or reply to her emails!
On December 19, Rob Coleman, City Manager sent a letter (copy below) to the Surrey Police Board and the Surrey Police reminding them of the August letter. He also quoted section 27 (6) of the Police Act that states the board must not make an expenditure that is not specified in the board's budget and approved by council. The SPS budget for 2023 was over by 23 Million Dollars! The city keeps asking SPS for a 2024 budget but the SPS refuse to comply.
They ignored it and hired 10 new trainees anyway.
The three Tweets below are from Elenore Sturko, United Party MLA for Surrey South.
Section 27(6) of the Police Act is legislation. The notice sent by the city cites this. Yes - legislation is key & and in this case the legislation makes it clear that no additional expenditures are permitted without an approved budget.
. this is what happens when you legislate a police transition that has no plan and no apparent accountability to the city. $23M over its 2023 budget & continuing to hire for positions that haven’t had their 2024 funding approved. this is another crisis of your own design. #bcpoli
On December 19, 2023 a notice was given to pause new hires until the budget was approved in accordance with Sec. 27(6) of the Police Act. This notice went to police services advisor Jessica McDonald & ADM Glen Lewis - pretending to be appalled now is pure politic spin. The NDP allowed this to happen so they could use it to attack the mayor. It’s gross. #bcpoli
All we asked for was a referendum and the NDP government refused both requests with over 50,000 signatures from residents on the voters list. It's before the courts and we all hope the corruption from both city and provincial government officers gets investigated!
