The Surrey police board has overstepped its bounds by adopting rules restricting what the chief can say publicly, extending the “chaos” of the transition from the RCMP to a municipal force, says a former B.C. former solicitor general.
“In all of my studies, in all my years in policing, I’ve never seen this,” Kash Heed said Thursday.
“Even if you look at the role of the board, you look at the fact that they have to deal with governance, they are, in my opinion, they’re beyond their powers when they muzzle the chief in this way.”
The Surrey police board approved new rules at its Wednesday meeting that ban the department’s police chief and other officials from commenting publicly on decisions by city hall or the B.C. government.
“The chief constable should be free to speak on issues that are paramount to Surrey. They’re not allowing that,” Heed said. “It’s going to be very difficult now to bring in a qualified chief constable that’s going to lead them — the chaos that they’re in right now — when you put a muzzle on them right at the outset.”
The board’s directive came because of comments from Norm Lipinski, who the board terminated as chief nearly three weeks ago, without cause.
Lipinski had publicly commented on numerous policing concerns. Lipinski, for instance, asked the province for a delay in the Surrey Police Service fully taking over policing in Cloverdale. The province declined and forced SPS to take over Cloverdale sooner than Lipinski wanted. He said that forced him to disband Surrey’s anti-gang unit to provide the necessary officers for Cloverdale.
Todd Matsumoto is serving as interim chief until a new chief is recruited.
Heed, a former West Vancouver police chief and public safety minister, said there is too much political interference with the current Surrey police board, from both the city and the province.
Surrey Mayor Brenda Locke with former Surrey Police Service chief Norm Lipinski in 2024.
Surrey Mayor Brenda Locke campaigned on her promise to end the policing transition away from the RCMP. While she won the election, Locke lost the fight against the province on the transition, and SPS was forced on the city.
The whole move is about control, Heed said. When five police board directors were replaced in one swoop by the province in March, that was also unheard of, he added.
After Lipinski was terminated, board chair Harley Chappell resigned in protest of the decision that he was not a part of. Days later, another board director, James Carwana, also resigned.
The Surrey police board didn’t offer much clarity Thursday as to how the new communications directive will work in practice, saying in a statement that while the chief is free to speak on matters of crime, community safety, and police operations, “The Surrey police board has its own direct responsibilities for the governance and oversight of SPS. The policy is clear that in situations where those areas of responsibility overlap, the expectation is for management and the board to engage one another.”
Speaking to reporters prior to Wednesday’s board meeting, the new board chair, Perm Jawanda, insisted the chief will be able to speak, but only when it comes to issues related to running the force.
“There will be no change at all in anything to do with that,” Jawanda said. “The changes would be with respect to items related to governance.”
Heed believes that leaves the police chief needing to get permission to speak on anything related to government, including court decisions police may be unhappy with.
“The police boards used to be under my direction when I was in the ministry, and I don’t recall any controversy over my 32 years in policing and my term as a solicitor general, and even now, of anything of this nature,” he said.
The new directive gives a lot of insight into Lipinski’s termination, Heed added, saying it has everything to do with him, regardless of Jawanda denying the claim.
“That’s ridiculous. How uninformed do you think the public is?” he said.
The B.C. Association of Chiefs of Police declined to comment .
Public Safety Minister Nina Krieger and B.C. Premier David Eby have both kept their noses out of the situation since Lipinski’s termination, saying it is the responsibility of the board.
“I have no confidence in the province stepping in based on what has occurred right at the outset, and I have no confidence that the public will get the answers that they deserve with respect to what is going on and what has occurred,” Heed said.
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