Governance & Accountability

The RCMP provides policing service to the City of Surrey through a Municipal Police Unit Agreement (MPUA) which is negotiated between the Province and Municipality, and a Police Services Agreement which is negotiated between the Province and the Federal Government. The current agreements for Surrey have 20-year terms, running from April 1, 2012 to March 31, 2032. The MPUA has a two year opt out provision that provides for regular reviews during the term of the agreement.

These agreements outline the duties and responsibilities of the RCMP and the City in financial, operational, and administrative areas. The City of Surrey establishes the level of police resources, budget and policing priorities for Surrey in consultation with the Province and RCMP. The Surrey RCMP is then responsible for delivering on the policing priorities within the established budget and with the resources that have been allocated. The Detachment's Strategic Framework is developed to align detachment activities and deployment of resources with key policing priorities identified by our staff, partners and stakeholders.

The Surrey RCMP Officer in Charge reports to the Mayor of Surrey on matters relating to the implementation of objectives, priorities and goals of the detachment. The MPUA states that the local government is to have input into policing priorities to further the detachment’s accountability to the City and its residents. The Officer in Charge provides updates and consults regularly with the Mayor and Council on policing priorities, crime statistics and trends, and community policing initiatives. 

The Officer in Charge is also a member of the City’s Senior Management Team (SMT) which is led by the City Manager and meets regularly to discuss City-wide issues and generate solutions to corporate administrative or operational problems. The Surrey RCMP also contributes to a number of City of Surrey strategies including the Sustainability Charter and Public Safety Strategy.

RCMP officers receive training that is considered a best practice internationally; it fully prepares them to police in both urban and rural areas across Canada. The Surrey RCMP is often looked to by police agencies around the world for how it tackles major urban issues including public safety issues surrounding homelessness, and gang and gun prevention.

RCMP officers are not transferred out of detachments automatically; they have the opportunity to apply for positions in different detachments/Divisions at various points in their careers to gain broader policing expertise. Officers spend an average of seven years in Surrey but many choose to stay here for much longer, and many opt to return to Surrey after gaining experience in other cities.

Our police officers care deeply about the community they police. Approximately 38% of our police officers live in Surrey, and approximately 86% live in Surrey or a neighbouring community.

 

Learn more about the structure of police services in BC.

Learn more about municipal policing under the Police Act and Municipal Police Service Agreements.

Learn more about RCMP Contract Policing.

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