The Surrey Police Service is on track to have 295 officers deployed by next May, according to an SPS press release issued Monday.
Meantime the SPS, gearing up to replace the Surrey RCMP, will on Aug. 6 mark two years since it was established and to date has 120 officers working under the guidance of Surrey RCMP’s officer in charge, Assistant Commissioner Brian Edwards.
Ian MacDonald, spokesman for the SPS, said 35 more SPS officers were deployed on July 25, exceeding the 30 expected for July. He said new deployments will be every two months and that the SPS is now B.C.’s third largest municipal police agency with 237 police officers and 52 civilian employees.
Chief Constable Norm Lipinski, in the press release, stated that the “steady, incremental progress toward Surrey Police Service becoming the police of jurisdiction in Surrey is the result of the efforts that began two years ago and have continued every day since.
“I am obviously proud of our accomplishments to this point, but I know our team always remains focused on the next challenge and on the primary objective of improving public safety for the citizens of Surrey,” he said.
But for the time being, the Surrey RCMP continues to be the city’s police force.
tom.zytaruk@surreynowleader.com
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