Editor:
I attended Surrey council’s Monday afternoon hearing the proposed budget. Of all the persons speaking to council only one was in favour of a municipal force.
He said that it would be like Delta PD. Well, comparing Delta to Surrey is like comparing apples to oranges.
The Safe Surrey Coalition is either wilfully ignorant, blind or naive when it comes to the cost of keeping Surrey safe. It appears that the Surrey Fire Department is also short-staffed for a city as large and as fast-growing as Surrey.
The proposed SPD will be woefully short-staffed and when implemented their wages and benefits will be on a par with Vancouver’s PD.
This rush to implement the SPD will cost us much more when it comes to playing catch-up with our roads, infrastructure and recreational facilities.
I would urge our council to do their due diligence in planning and costing of this project and present it to the taxpayers as a referendum on our next municipal election.
By doing this, the mayor could demonstrate true leadership and perhaps receive a real mandate from Surrey’s citizens to implement a municipal police force.
Barry Bradley, Surrey