Surrey Police Service has a total of 315 police officers, which represents 43% of the targeted strength

THE Surrey Police Board (SPB) and Surrey Police Service (SPS) in a statement have expressed concern that Surrey City Council will be considering a report on Monday evening and potentially determining the future of Surrey’s policing transition without comprehensive information on SPS staffing levels or the financial implications associated with reversing the transition.

City staff have prepared a report for Council’s consideration without the benefit of a briefing by the SPB or SPS, which would have ensured an accurate accounting of all human resource and financial aspects of the issue, the statement noted.

Instead, the report inaccurately reflects SPS’s current staffing, citing only the 154 deployed SPS officers, which the reports notes is 21% of the “targeted strength of 734 police officers”. However, SPS has a total of 315 police officers, which represents 43% of the targeted strength. The additional 161 officers are waiting for deployment (35 at the end of November) and/or working in administrative roles that are required for either the normal functioning of any police agency, or to develop the infrastructure for a new police service.

The statement said that the SPB also employs 59 civilians, of which 34 (58%) were hired from outside the City of Surrey/RCMP Detachment to fill positions not required in RCMP detachments. All told, at least 349 sworn and civilian employees would be terminated from their employment if the transition was reversed. Alternatively, the transition away from the RCMP would see RCMP officers being re-assigned to other detachments/units, most likely within the Lower Mainland.

The statement also pointed out that the report also fails to highlight a number of significant financial implications for Council’s consideration (see attached financial backgrounder), which include almost $108.3 million in costs incurred to date, as of October 31 and the prospect of a massive severance liability.

Reversing the transition would result in an estimated $188.5 million loss of investment into SPS, which is approximately six months away from being operationally ready to become the police of jurisdiction. Furthermore, the SPB’s recently completed financial forecast of steady state operations projects a $18.3M cost difference between SPS and the RCMP, which should be considered, for an informed decision. The report also inaccurately attributes the $20.6 million policing budget shortfall to SPS, when the City previously attributed the overage to the RCMP in their Q2 2022 financial corporate report.

In order for Council to make an informed decision on the future of Surrey’s policing model, the SPB and SPS believe that council needs to consider a number of factors not contemplated in the City’s report, including:

• Documented inability of the RCMP to provide adequate staffing in BC and across Canada.
• Surrey RCMP’s ongoing issues to staff the detachment appropriately for both sworn and civilian positions (including the staffing of the critical Operational Communication Centre).
• Lack of interest by SPS officers to join the RCMP (94%, as per the Surrey Police Union).
• Accurate staffing numbers for SPS and the financial and human implications of terminations, including the cost of severances.
• Details on the non-recoverable costs, including the majority of SPS IT equipment, which is not compatible with RCMP infrastructure.

The Surrey Police Board and Surrey Police Service said they want to ensure that city council has the full picture of the status of the policing transition, including an accurate accounting of the financial, human resources and public safety implications, so they can make an informed decision on this matter.

FINANCIAL BACKGROUNDER

• $108.3M in salaries/benefits and capital/equipment investments have been invested into Surrey Police Service (SPS) and the policing transition as of October 31, 2022.
• By year end next month, unrecoverable sunk costs are forecasted to be as high as $107M.
• The IT buildout of critical components required for SPS to be police of jurisdiction is approximately 50% complete. SPS has spent $16.8M of the projected $32.5M on IT.
• $32.4M has been spent of the total $63.7M one-time transition budget established by the City (IT expenditures are included in this budget).
• Employment terminations, whether through working notice, immediate severance, or a combination thereof, are forecasted at $81.5M for existing/current employees.
• Terminating the police transition (by January 2023) will result in a projected investment loss of up to $188.5M ($107.0M unrecoverable sunk cost + $81.5M employment terminations, whether through working notice, immediate severance, or a combination thereof).
• Projected annual cost difference between SPS and the RCMP is $18.3M.
o If reversing the transition now, it would take the City of Surrey over a decade of annual contract savings realized from the 10% federal subsidy to recover the loss of investment into building SPS to become the police of jurisdiction
• As contract policing costs are predominately variable, based on the number of officers assigned to a municipality, efficiency advantages from economies of scale would be limited or unachievable from the municipality’s perspective, as costs may increase at a relatively constant rate with growth.
o On the contrary, as SPS grows with the City’s population, our operational efficiencies will achieve economies of scale for Surrey since we are funded for exact expenditures only. Therefore, there may be a future state where contract policing becomes the more expensive choice as Surrey is expected to become the largest municipality in BC.