Today marks an historic milestone in Canada's largest-ever policing transition as the Surrey Police Service replaces the Surrey RCMP as the city's police of jurisdiction.

Still, the transition is not expected to be completed until 2026/27. But Friday, Nov. 29 is the day the torch gets passed from Surrey Mounties who, since May 1, 1951 have been the city's official police force.

The storied Surrey RCMP slips into the past to become a provincial RCMP unit supporting the SPS as the latter continues to grow its ranks, which today stands at 446 officers and 73 city employees. 

"Also important is that on Nov. 29 there will be in excess of 400 civilians that will transfer over to the SPS," Chief Constable Norm Lipinski, in charge of the SPS, told a Surrey Police Board meeting on Wednesday, Nov. 27. "These civilians are working in Surrey detachment and they will become the employees of the police board."

Surrey council under former mayor Doug McCallum at its inaugural meeting on Nov. 5th, 2018 served notice to the provincial and federal governments it would with the RCMP to set up its own police force, resulting in an between proponents and opponents of the transition.

It's building up in three phases, with the first phase being a "blended" SPS-RCMP force under the command of Assistant Commissioner Brian Edwards from Nov. 29, 2021 to Nov. 28, 2024. The second phase begins today with the change of command and new SPS/provincial police model, and finally the third phase will see the transition's "estimated" completion in 2026/27.

Earlier this month the  Surrey Police Service 鈥渇ront-line鈥� uniformed officers will patrol Whalley and Newton while their RCMP counterparts cover South Surrey, Cloverdale, Fleetwood and Guildford as the SPS ramps up its ranks. The next district the SPS will take on is South Surrey "sometime" in 2025 as the new police force continues to build up.

"Our members being deployed on the front line, they are substantially about 50 per cent of the front line. They've done great work out there," Lipinski said during Wednesday's meeting. "What I'm talking about is great investigations, also talking about great community engagement and great ideas of how to make things better, how to move policing along."

He said the SPS will be taking on "in excess" of 20 programs that are city-wide.

"Remember that the RCMP are still going to be here for a number of years because they have to demobilize, we have to mobilize," Lipinski said. "What that means is hire and place them 鈥� our members 鈥� into strategic positions whether it's the front line or if it's investigative and their members will move to other detachments whether in B.C. or across the country. This takes a bit of time and it's important to recognize for some of the RCMP members, they have to move their families so obviously a lot of planning goes into that and we want to have a gradual transition, we want to ensure that we take care of the wellness of the SPS members, the RCMP members and therefore that mitigates any chance of things that perhaps may go sideways on us and we've really looked at all the possibilities and we've mitigated what we've seen and so again, I have very good confidence it's starting on Nov. 29, it will be a smooth transition."

Nothing changes on the first day concerning how people contact the police 鈥� the emergency and non-emergency phone numbers stay the same. But the branding on the police buildings has changed over to SPS while "business continuity continues forward.

"I'm very, very confident that public safety will not be jeopardized and that we will smoothly transition over to the SPS," Lipinski said. "Buildings stay the same, the branding changes but the contact and the access for the public stays the same.

"It doesn't matter what the stripe is, the public can expect the same level of service, continuity of service, throughout Surrey and we will be supporting each other throughout the entire map area, which is really six town centres."

The City of Surrey 鈥� including the RCMP detachment building in Newton 鈥� to the Surrey Police Board for $1 over five years as part of the process. "That will make us the holder of those buildings and of course the RCMP will be housed in those areas as well and we're working collaboratively with them as far as where they may be situated, where we will be situated because of course we will be moving into the main detachment," Lipinski said. 

As far as continuity of services, Lipinski said, there will be a "fluid, collective" policing response, community programs and supports will be maintained, ongoing investigations won't be interrupted and there will be "." 

He said a joint committee is looking at "how to best do that."

"We have to remember that in any police agency when we're talking about investigative files, the investigators they do retire, they do get transferred, they do move on in life and so there is a semblance of a protocol, a process of how to do file transfer. Obviously some of these files continue on for years and so what we are doing with the RCMP is establishing a process, a very tight process, that will ensure that there is a continuity of that file from an investigative perspective."

Worthy of noting, the chief constable added, is that the SPS is also partnering with the Integrated Homicide Investigation Team, Emergency Response Team and other integrated teams. "More to come on that early in the new year," he added. "We will be contributing to those teams some time in 2025."

"We are ready, we feel confident," Lipinski reiterated. 

A financial report before the board has total SPS expenditures in the provisional budget at $141,511,053 with the 2024 forecast for net spending at $111,778,926. Surrey council had approved $222 million to be split between the RCMP and SPS. The SPS's largest area of expenditure 鈥� about 91 per cent of its regular ongoing operating costs 鈥� was on salaries and benefits with its average monthly expenditures now at $7.8 million whereas in June it was $7 million. 

The story of Surrey's policing transition is not without irony. Surrey was on a roll in the 1950s and the push for infrastructure and a growing population meant an increased need for services here. And so on May 1, 1951, as a result of a plebiscite, the RCMP replaced the Surrey Police Force and the municipality entered into a cost-sharing agreement with the feds. To start, 15 constables served with the detachment, earning $210 a month.

Sixty-seven years later, with Surrey鈥檚 population being vastly larger than it was back then, a movement took root to reverse that decision with former mayor Doug McCallum as its intellectual author.

The Surrey RCMP 鈥� Canada's largest RCMP detachment 鈥� had drawn heat in recent years for gang violence on the city's streets, fuelled by the illegal drug trade and as the 2018 civic election approached the fate of its contract became a major campaign issue.

鈥淚 think they having a hard time addressing all the gun violence that鈥檚 going on,鈥� prior to the 2018 election. 鈥淭hey don鈥檛 seem to be able to address these things. I live in South Surrey, near Crescent Beach, and you know I never see the RCMP, to be honest. We really need to get a police force that is in our communities, live in our communities and stay.鈥�

Also, a grassroots group called Wake Up Surrey took on the cause toward . 

McCallum's Safe Surrey Coalition slate issued a press release Friday, quoting the former mayor. 鈥淲hen the people of Surrey voted for a local police force in 2018, they sent a clear message: they wanted a police service that understands and prioritizes their communities,鈥� it reads. 鈥淭oday, that vision becomes reality. The Safe Surrey Coalition and I have delivered on our promise. Promise Made, Promise Kept. This is our legacy for Surrey鈥攁 new urban police service that will stop crime, combat the drug crisis, and make Surrey safe again.鈥�

Meanwhile, Lipinski told the board on Nov. 27 that people participating in the SPS public consultation program expressed concern about the "B.C. gang conflict" and "having police officers being available and responsive and certainly very much there seems to be a strong, strong desire for police visibility and when we drill down to that, that means that our police officers to stop in at recreation areas and say hello to the young people that are playing soccer or baseball or football. There was a strong leaning towards working with our youth."

He said the SPS in that regard is developing a youth engagement program that should be "ready to go" by early 2025.

"Dovetailing that of course is the anti-gang program and I want to put a lot of emphasis on that. We have to, to the best of our ability, ensure that young people are set up to succeed and make the right choices in life and we have a lot of ideas of how we can facilitate that to the extent possible."

This was Mike Serr's last meeting as administrator of the Surrey Police Board as a new board is expected to be struck in January. On Nov. 16, 2023, the provincial government appointed Serr, a retired Abbotsford Police chief, as its temporary administrator.

"The government has taken this extraordinary step to ensure the policing transition can be completed efficiently and effectively," the SPB website states. "During this time, all board members鈥� appointments will be paused and they will resume their roles once the Province determines that the work of the Administrator is complete."

The date of the next board meeting has not yet been set. Serr took his leave Wednesday. 

"Now the buck stops with you," he told Lipinski. "I'm very happy that a new board will be in place at some point early in the new year and we'll certainly make sure they're prepared to take on the challenges that lay ahead for them.

"This is my last meeting," Serr announced. "It's been an absolute privilege. It's not always been easy but you learn a lot about people's character in the most difficult and challenging times and I've learned that SPS is built on resilience, strength and character and to be able to walk with you has been nothing short of something that I will always remember."

A press conference is set for today (Friday, Nov. 29) at the new Surrey Police Service Headquarters (formerly Surrey RCMP detachment building in Newton) at 1:30 p.m., when Lipinski will be joined by Public Safety Minister Garry Begg, Mayor Brenda Locke, and Assistant Commissioner John Brewer, criminal operations officer 鈥� Core Policing for the BC RCMP.

"Following a traditional welcome and blessing from Chief Chappell on behalf of the Semiahmoo First Nation, the speakers will provide brief comments on this historic change in policing in the City of Surrey," Staff Sergeant Lindsey Houghton said. "Please note, this event will not be a formal 鈥淐hange of Command鈥� ceremony. That event will likely take place sometime in early 2025."

Chief Superintendent Wendy Mehat, named officer in charge of the BC RCMP Surrey Provincial Operations Support Unit, issued a press release on Friday on behalf of the detachment "to express our collective gratitude for the opportunity to serve this community.

"Thank you, residents, for allowing us to serve you. It has been our greatest honour," she said.

"My heartfelt appreciation to Assistant Commissioner Brian Edwards and the Senior Leadership team for their exceptional leadership over these past few years," said Mehat, who began her career as a Mountie in 2000, patrolling Whalley.

"It would be remiss of me not to acknowledge the five fallen RCMP officers who gave the ultimate sacrifice in service to the City of Surrey," she said. "We are forever indebted to Constable John Baldwinson, Constable Terrance Draginda, Constable Archille Lepine, Constable Roger Pierlet and Constable Adrian Oliver. They remain in our hearts and minds and we will never forget their service and sacrifice."

Moving forward, Mehat noted, Surrey residents can still expect to see "frontline" RCMP officers in Guildford, Cloverdale and South Surrey "as we maintain all police operations in those neighbourhoods.

"You will also continue to see RCMP officers running Investigative Services for the majority of the city. These officers will maintain the responsibility for serious crimes, criminal collision investigations, drug and gang enforcement investigations. Hundreds of Surrey RCMP members will remain in the city, deployed now as members of the Provincial Operations Support Unit."

Understanding that change can be difficult, Mehat added, "our new BC RCMP team is dedicated to serving in the city as we have for the past 72 years. We are committed to continue to offer the same level of service, professionalism and community engagement that our residents expect. Our team of officers remains the same, now with a new name."

Surrey First Councillor Linda Annis, also executive director of Metro Vancouver Crime Stoppers, said Surrey residents owe the Surrey RCMP a debt of gratitude. 
 
鈥淥ver the years, thousands of incredible RCMP officers have protected this city and its citizens and all of us owe them, and their families, our gratitude for a job well done,鈥� she said. 鈥淭he fact is, without public safety nothing else matters, and these days there is no tougher job than being a police officer. Surrey has definitely changed over the years, and our RCMP officers were with us every step of the way.鈥�
 
Annis called on Lipinski and the SPS to "build on the community commitment of the RCMP.
 
鈥淚t鈥檚 no secret that expectations are high,鈥� she said.