RCMP not disclosing number of officers on duty in Surrey amid police debate

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The RCMP has not disclosed the number of officers on duty in BC’s second largest city, as Surrey’s transition to city police remains pending.

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The Majority Council, led by Mayor Brenda Locke and her Surrey Connect Party, voted last week to cancel the transition to Surrey Police and return to the RCMP. The council has instructed staff to prepare a report on how to do so.

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The report, which has spent more than $108 million and employed 315 police officers and 59 civilian assistance staff, is on track and BC Public Safety Minister Mike Fern to make final decision on transition Sent to Worth.

The human resources transition plan agreed by the city, state and federal governments requires the RCMP to be demobilized with the launch of the SPS, so the number of RCMP staff and the new Surrey police currently on duty will be reduced. The number of service (SPS) personnel is important. Up.

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This is because the City of Surrey does not cover the costs of two police units at the same time.

As a result, the number of RCMP and SPS officers on duty has an impact on costs and safety in Surrey.

Rob Gordon, professor emeritus of criminology at Simon Fraser University, said there was no reason the RCMP could not disclose its headcount, but he considered the RCMP’s typical denial.

Publishing headcount numbers would provide important information to the public and provide accountability, he noted.

“As an organization, the RCMP is paranoid.

BC RCMP spokeswoman Dawn Roberts gave several reasons why the RCMP headcount was not made public. For example, it was fluid, it had to be kept secret for operational reasons, and Surrey RCMP officials were busy compiling numbers to stop the Surrey report. transition.

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In the Human Resource Transition Report, which outlines staffing plans through May 2023, all RCMP headcounts have been redacted with a note citing privacy provisions such as being detrimental to law enforcement.

“A number is always a snapshot,” said Roberts, BC RCMP communications director. “We do not provide numbers for operational purposes, so we know they have been removed under federal and state privacy laws.

Surrey Police have released the number.

To date, 154 police officers are on duty, and 35 more are expected to be on the streets by the end of the month.

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Gordon said the RCMP’s reason for not disclosing the number of officers makes little sense.

“They make up all sorts of stories like, ‘I don’t want the bad guys to know how many cops are on the street.’ It’s like they’re trying to say, ‘Let’s do it,'” Gordon said.

The City of Surrey referred questions to the RCMP regarding personnel numbers.

Surrey city officials also pointed to the city’s second quarter financial report, which includes total headcount to the end of June this year, but does not include a breakdown of RCMP and SPS personnel. The total number is characterized as the “budget assumption”.

Five months earlier, a report showed that 691 officers were on duty between the RCMP and the SPS in June, lower than the combined target of 734 in transition and the Surrey RCMP allowing them to operate. lower than the 843 level provided.

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The city’s policing budget was projected to exceed budget by $20.6 million, or 10%, by the end of the year, according to a financial report at the end of June.

The city report attributed the RCMP’s slower than expected demobilization rate to over-budget spending.

Last week’s report to Congress on the vote to stop the transition said the projected budget overrun was unchanged at $20.6 million, but blamed it on the lack of more SPS officers on the streets than expected. it was done.

ghoekstra@postmedia.com

twitter.com/gordon_hoekstra

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