2020 Report to the Community
Surrey
2020-05-01 09:35 PDT
Click to receive a PDF copy of the Surrey RCMP’s 2020 Report to the Community
via email (9 MB attachment). Please do not alter the email subject line.
While there are many situations I thought I would encounter during my first year as the Officer in Charge, a pandemic was not one I anticipated. However, police are trained to expect the unexpected, and adapt accordingly. We moved quickly to establish an internal COVID-19 team to ensure the health and safety of our essential workers, and an external team to ensure understanding and compliance with public health orders.
The year of 2020 was also notable for global calls to action to defund the police
and for police to take a hard look at how they interact with the BIPOC community. Our Police Mental Health Outreach Team has taken a unique approach to interacting with Surrey’s vulnerable citizens – one that emphasizes relationship building, assistance and working with partners, over enforcement. We will continue to invest in this team. Internally, we implemented a quarterly review of police complaint files to look for potential issues of bias, and we are improving our employee diversity training. Despite the steps we have taken, there is more to be learned on how we can do things better.
We also continue to adapt as the City of Surrey works to transition their policing from the RCMP to the Surrey Police Service. The transition of police services is a complex process but my team is committed to working collaboratively with the Surrey Police Service to ensure that public safety is not compromised at any point in the process. Chief Lipinski and I have a strong relationship that will ensure, as stated, that the safety of our police officers and that of the community is the primary consideration when moving forward.
The work and accomplishments detailed in this report are thanks to our great team of police officers, support staff and volunteers. Despite a pandemic, we improved our response time, worked with the community to reduce both violent and property crime, and continued to advance innovative strategies to provide an efficient and responsive police service.
My sincere thanks to Surrey residents and business owners for being our partners in public safety throughout 2020.
Assistant Commissioner Brian Edwards
Officer in Charge, Surrey RCMP
Click here to receive a PDF copy of the Surrey RCMP’s 2020 Report to the Community
via email (9 MB attachment). Please do not alter the email subject line.
Follow Us:
- Date modified: