SURREY, British Columbia– The National Police Federation (NPF) today released results of an exclusive RCMP survey of Members currently serving in Surrey which confirms a major problem for the proposed Surrey Police Service (SPS) and police detachments throughout Metro Vancouver municipalities – less than 14% of current RCMP Members would apply to work with the SPS.
Brian Sauvé, President of the NPF, says the results show recruitment for the SPS would create significant disruption and destabilization for all police departments in Metro Vancouver and beyond if Surrey is allowed to continue with their proposed transition. These results further confirm that this transition will not happen within Mayor Doug McCallum’s promised timeframe.
“This exclusive survey shows that only about one in eight RCMP Members would apply to work at the proposed SPS if Mayor Doug McCallum’s plan moves forward,” said Sauvé. “Surrey’s plan is relying on nearly 500 Surrey RCMP Members out of more than 800 moving over to SPS but this survey shows only 103 indicate they would apply — and none of these Members have yet had access to information on how this might negatively impact their pension or seniority.”
“On top of the significant strain Surrey’s plan will place on new officer training and recruitment in Metro Vancouver municipalities, it is clear they will need to meet their targets by recruiting hundreds of officers away from neighbouring jurisdictions who are not familiar with policing in Surrey,” Sauvé said.
The survey was conducted in July 2020 directly by management of the BC RCMP and had an overall response rate of 95%. The results were shared with Members on August 17, 2020.
“These results further confirm an enormous problem that the NPF and other experts have been highlighting for months – Surrey does not have a credible plan to develop and launch a new police service without raiding neighbouring jurisdictions for officers,” added Sauvé. “Communities throughout Metro Vancouver that are already struggling to keep up with recruitment for retiring officers would face losing hundreds of current officers to Surrey.”
