Editor:
Re: Farnworth says more info needed before making decision on Surrey’s policing future, Feb. 2
Public Safety Minister and Sol. Gen. Mike Farnworth’s announcement that more information is needed to “inform further consideration” of whether Surrey should maintain the RCMP as its municipal police force or continue with the transition to the Surrey Police Service raises some questions (as well as eyebrows).
In making the announcement, Farnworth added that he can’t make the decision without “a full and in-depth analysis.”
Well, how and why was this entire exercise started, costing hundreds of millions of public dollars, without “a full and in-depth analysis?” That should have occurred years ago, before the transition began.
Meanwhile, the Surrey Police Service will keep hiring, ensuring even more public funding is consumed before they are possibly shown the door.
Only three days before the Farnworth non-decision, it was announced that SPS had deployed another 18 officers. If the government cannot tell at this point if they should exist for sure, their hiring and deployment should be frozen.
Finally, we might ask what we have already lost in this mess and what we will lose in the future for real public safety and well-being. Hundreds of millions of dollars in public resources that could have supported community centres, youth activities, housing, mental health care, harm reduction. All up in smoke.
Dr. Jeff Shantz, Surrey