Editor:
Following a fear-mongering campaign by Safe Surrey to make Surrey safe again with a new local police force, I noted that safety can be put on the back burner until this magical new force is in place, i.e. the mayor does not want to hire more RCMP officers because a) there is no money to hire them, and b) they cannot be trained in time.
Where does the mayor think this new police force is coming from, taking civilians off the streets and turning them into policemen and policewomen?
Surely a closer reality is that the majority will be ex-RCMP officers.
Surrey needs to appoint an independent body to determine accurate start-up and operating costs of this new local police force and then hold a single-point referendum to see if the taxpayers of Surrey are prepared to pay the costs associated with satisfying the mayor’s obsession with creating a local police force.
Right now, the taxpayers of Surrey are being asked to write a blank cheque to cover these costs with no guarantee that the service that they offer will be any better than that offered by the RCMP.
There is no money for needed infrastructure projects, but apparently plenty of money for a new police force.
Les Murrell, Surrey
