City unveiling of inaugural police board marks milestone: McCallum
The unveiling of Surrey’s inaugural police board marks a milestone in the city’s transition from the RCMP to a municipal force, a process Mayor Doug McCallum believes is being watched across the continent.
“Policing, really, in North America, is changing as we speak,” McCallum said at a press conference Monday to mark the provincial government’s appointment of seven members to Surrey’s first police board. “We have a golden opportunity in Surrey to change the way policing is done, certainly across Canada and maybe even in North America.”
“I can say very clearly: all eyes in policing in North American are on Surrey right now,” McCallum said. “We’re developing a very innovative, proactive, sort of a new, modern type of police service in our city, and people are really interested in that.”
The transition is moving forward at a time of widespread conversations about police reform around North America. McCallum said he has fielded calls from leaders in other parts of Canada interested in learning more about Surrey’s police transition, and as far away as Texas and Florida.
The creation of a Surrey Police Department was a key pillar of McCallum’s 2018 mayoral campaign. Immediately after the election, Surrey’s new council voted unanimously to terminate their agreement with the RCMP and transition to a municipal department.
Some of those councillors, though, have since been raising questions and criticisms about the police transition and how much it will cost.
There are other critical voices in the community too, including the Keep the RCMP in Surrey campaign, which has circulated a petition that now has thousands of signatures.
The seven appointees announced by B.C.’s Ministry of Public Safety and Solicitor General to oversee the city’s transition to a municipal police department are: Harley Chappell, elected chief of the Semiahmoo First Nation; Cheney Cloke, director of Fraser Health Authority; Elizabeth Model, CEO of Downtown Surrey Business Improvement Association; James Carwana, a mediator and arbitrator; Jaspreet Sunner, lawyer and labour relations representative for Hospital Employees’ Union; Manav Gill, manager of clinical operations for the Fraser Health Authority; and Meena Brisard, regional director of Canadian Union of Public Employees.
They’ll join McCallum, who will chair the board, and Bob Rolls, a former deputy chief with the Vancouver Police Department who was earlier appointed to the board by Surrey council.
The next step in the city’s transition plan will be for the new board to hire a chief constable.