Surrey Police Service's Change of Command Ceremony on Tuesday, April 22 marked the symbolic handover of policing Surrey from the Surrey RCMP to the SPS almost five months after the latter was declared the city's police of jurisdiction on November 29, 2024.

The invitation-only event, held at the Cloverdale Agriplex at 17673 62 Avenue, had SPS officers on parade, SPS Pipes and Drums, and the signing of the official parchment.

Speakers were Lieutenant Governor of British Columbia Wendy Cocchia, Minister of Public Safety and Solicitor General Garry Begg (NDP MLA for Surrey-Guildford), RCMP Deputy Commissioner Dwayne McDonald (commanding officer of the BC RCMP), Harley Chappell (chairman of the Surrey Police Board), and Chief Constable Norm Lipinski, officer in charge of the Surrey Police Service.

"Today marks a significant moment not only for the City of Surrey but also for the Province of British Columbia," Cocchia said, extending "deep gratitude" to the RCMP. "May this new chapter be defined by collaboration, trust and the unwavering commitment to the public." 

While the SPS had already taken over as Surrey's police of jurisdiction, the transition is not expected to be completed until 2026/27. But midnight Friday, Nov. 29 was when the torch got passed from Surrey Mounties who, since May 1, 1951 had been the city's official police force.

"I didn't have the opportunity back in November, Norm, but I want to say 'Tag, you're it,'" McDonald told Lipinski on Tuesday.

Today, SPS 鈥渇ront-line鈥� uniformed officers are patrolling Whalley and Newton while their RCMP counterparts cover South Surrey, Cloverdale, Fleetwood and Guildford as the SPS ramps up its ranks.

After the ceremony, Lipinski told reporters the SPS has just over 500 police officers and needs about 300 more, and that he's looking at "another two years, two and a half, maybe a little bit longer than that to complete it. We're taking our time in doing it to hire the right people and to allow the RCMP to demobilize."

"We're going to be moving into South Surrey next, and that will be this year and then we'll move into Cloverdale and go up the east side."

Lipinski said the transition is moving along to his satisfaction. "Now we're starting to build really good momentum.

"I feel very self-actualized, very satisfied. I've been here four and a half years. Safe to say it's been a roller coaster and I'm really proud of my people and we've built something really special here."

He wants to see the transition completed in "the next three years, I'm looking at about two and a half."

Meantime, the number of Surrey Mounties patching over to the SPS has been "slowly increasing," he said. "So I'm pleased with the amount of RCMP people coming over."

Mayor Brenda Locke told reporters after the ceremony that the City of Surrey is following the legislation that "the Province imposed on us. We wlll move forward to make sure that this is the best police department we can have in the city of Surrey. I can tell you the Surrey Police Service has some very, very big shoes to fill. The RCMP were the police here for 71 years and they did an extraordinary job so we will miss them."

Locke added that having a city police force is "extremely expensive and so we negotiated a quarter of a billion dollars to be able to provide assistance to the taxpayer because that was one thing that I spoke about often 鈥� the cost to the taxpayer just could not be imposed upon and I can tell you we have had the first tranche from the Province and so we look forward to continuing to get that money that we absolutely need."

Surrey council on April 14 ratified a for 2025, working out to about $77 for the average assessed single-family home.

"If we had not got that this year, we would have had about a 10 per cent tax increase so that money was very important to us."

The cost of the April 22 ceremony will be borne by the SPS, Locke said. "They have a budget the City provides them so it will be within that funding envelope."

Ian MacDonald, spokesman for the SPS, told the Now-Leader the "only real expenditures" will be for the of the event, "and the cost for the sandwiches and the water and beverages. There's no other costs. We've haven't seen an invoice from the City for the use of the Agriplex. There's no overtime, there's no expenditure on any staff. People that were there were there voluntarily and they were there on their own time or they were already working."