SURREY Police Service (SPS) Chief Constable Norm Lipinski said in a message on Wednesday that the SPS held its third swearing-in ceremony on Monday to welcome 42 new employees, bringing the staff total to 154 (138 sworn officers and 16 civilian employees).
On October 15, the SPS opened applications for its first group of new recruits and has already received over 200 applications.
Lipinski said: “If you are interested in a career in policing, I encourage you to visit the Careers section of our website and follow our Recruiting team on Instagram at @Join_SurreyPS.”
Lipinski said in his message: “By November 30, 50 experienced SPS officers will be assigned to duties within the RCMP Municipal Police Unit in Surrey (Surrey RCMP). This is the first step in the phased, integrated transition process that is being managed by the Surrey Policing Transition Trilateral Committee, which is made up of representatives from the three levels of government.
“Our Training and Leadership team has been busy preparing these 50 officers for their deployment. This week our second class of experienced officers begins their training, while the first class gets ready to graduate. We have involved a number of local community agencies in our training so our officers can learn, first-hand, about the community services, groups, Indigenous communities, and local issues for the city they will soon serve.”
He explained: “I know residents and business owners have questions about any changes they may see during this first deployment. Rest assured, we will be sharing more information next month. As the Surrey RCMP will remain the police of jurisdiction at this time, we do not anticipate that you will notice any significant changes other than some officers will be wearing SPS uniforms instead of RCMP uniforms.”
Lipinski added: “As busy as we are preparing for deployment, our relationship with the community remains paramount. On September 30 I joined some of our staff and board members at Holland Park to commemorate the first National Day for Truth and Reconciliation. I also recently had the pleasure of meeting with the Semiahmoo Rotary Club to provide an update on the development of SPS.
“SPS knows that the community demands and deserves an accountable, transparent police service. We continue to take steps to provide you with more information. We recently launched a new Policing Transition page on our website to provide factual information on the transition, and we released our first Report to the Community. The Surrey Police Board has also expanded their regular financial reporting to include more data – you can find these reports on the Police Board website.”
