EVEN as Surrey RCMP desperately tries to stay on in the City, the shocking incompetence of one of its specialized units was revealed by Global News in a report on Wednesday.

The report is a slap in the face of a struggling police force that cannot even recruit enough officers to fill up hundreds of vacancies all across B.C.

Screenshots of an email dated March 2 from Surrey RCMP Staff-Sgt. Jag Saran states that over the past two years there have been several incidents where surveillance tactics were not applied properly and that last month two police cruisers were damaged and several officers suffered minor injuries.

The last month incident was a traffic stop of an erratic driver who allegedly rammed a police car into a pole, reported Global News.

“The Surrey RCMP’s South Community Response Unit can no longer operate undercover or drive unmarked police cars. The team’s surveillance privileges have also been suspended,” Global News said, adding that Surrey RCMP is conducting an internal review.

“South CRU members have demonstrated their inability to perform the basic foundations of policing 101,” the email says.

“It’s very concerning,” Saran said. “It’s very disturbing and it undermines public confidence in policing.”

Saran’s email also states there had been “obvious breaches of law and policy” throughout the year that have resulted in “many charges being stayed, or not approved.”

Global News reported: “The email goes on to say “several files and incidents” that could have resulted in PSU (professional standards unit) investigations were “dealt with at the lowest level” and “many officer and public safety concerns” were raised on a regular basis.”

Surrey RCMP are conducting an internal review and Public Safety Minister and Solicitor General Mike Farnworth stressed the importance of that to Global News, pointing out: “The public needs to have confidence that when police are out on patrol or doing their duty in the community, that they are obeying the law they are following the procedures – everything they were trained to do.”

However, though Farnworth told Global News that the public could have confidence in the RCMP’s internal review, most people are highly skeptical about that because of all the past and present controversies about the force.