Policing in flux across B.C., as political promises prove difficult to implement
CBC
Novi Jette knew she was taking a risk when she left her job with the Vancouver Police Department to join the new Surrey Police Service, but she felt she'd done her homework.
Jette resigned a position she held for 23 years to assume a new rank in Surrey, where she looked forward to building the new police force from the ground up as head of employee services.
Now the future of the force is in question, as a new majority on city council looks to stop the replacement of the Surrey RCMP — and Jette says it could also spell the end of her policing career.
It's one example that suggests political promises to hire and rehire police officers at various police departments may not be as straightforward as a simple staffing shuffle.
"I would be really, extremely disappointed if this got reversed," Jette said.
"Going back to Vancouver ... personally, it's not an option," she said. "This would be the end for me."
Promising to transform police departments was a common refrain in municipal elections across B.C. last month, as a perceived increase in public violence and alleged prolific offenders drew calls for stronger law enforcement.
On Vancouver Island, Esquimalt re-elected Mayor Barb Desjardins, after council voted to pull out of a costly agreement to share a police department with Victoria.
Voters in Vancouver endorsed Ken Sim, after his ABC Vancouver party promised to hire 100 new officers for the city.
In her inauguration speech Monday, Surrey's new mayor, Brenda Locke, repeated her commitment to maintain local RCMP and put the brakes on a transition to a municipal force.
"The uncertainty of policing in Surrey will come to an end," Locke said.
One of council's first orders of business is putting together a report outlining a plan to keep RCMP in Surrey, which Locke has said will be cheaper than a municipal force. Locke declined requests for an interview, but has said she would like municipal officers to work as Mounties.
On Thursday, however, the Surrey Police Union put out a statement saying 275 of the force's 293 front-line officers had signed a pledge saying they have no intention to join RCMP, should the municipal force cease to exist.
Ian Macdonald, a Surrey Police Service spokesperson, said in an interview last month that moving to other municipal forces can also be complicated.
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