Community leaders have raised concerns over the hiring of a chief to lead the new municipal police in Surrey, B.C.
Norm Lipinski, an officer with decades of experience in municipal policing in Edmonton, Alta., and Delta, B.C., was chosen when the board had two weeks to make the decision.
“When the board had two weeks to make the decision, the fix was in,” said Coun. Brenda Locke, who is pushing for answers on how the board made its selection.
“From the get-go there has been political interference… It has been [a] secretive and non-transparent process from the beginning.”
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Norm Lipinski announced as chief of new Surrey municipal police force
Brian Sauvé, president of the National Police Federation, the union that represents RCMP members, compared Surrey’s selection process to what is happening in Ontario after Toronto Police Chief Mark Saunders stepped down amid the backdrop of the Black Lives Matter movement and calls to defund police.
Toronto’s search for a new top cop includes a community consultation process with a focus on the kind of chief residents want to see.
“Surrey had an opportunity,” Sauvé said. “The whole premise of this move to a municipal police service was to create something new that reflects the community. You can’t really reflect the community unless you talk to the community.”
Global News reached out to the police board for comment but has yet to receive a response.
Locke said many residents still oppose the transition from the RCMP to a municipal force and some who support the move had hoped they would see diversity at the top of the newly-formed force.
Speaking to Simi Sara on 980 CKNW Wednesday morning, Lipinski said he plans to start work in mid-December and his first order of business will be hiring three deputy chiefs.
“No one person represents an organization; it’s the entire organization,” he said. “So when I look at picking my deputy chiefs and other ranks throughout the department and recruits — I am going to really, really focus on diversity and gender equity.”
Former BC Solicitor General Kash Heed says Vancouver Police Deputy Chief Constable Steve Rai, who lives in Surrey and is of South Asian descent, is equally qualified and also applied for the job.
“We know that glass ceiling, the glass is very, very thick,” Heed said.
“A few of us have managed to get through that thick glass, but others have not … this is another indication of how thick that glass is for that glass ceiling.”
Sukhi Sandhu of anti-crime group Wake Up Surrey said race should not be the focus of the conversation now that a new chief has been chosen.
“There needs to be better accountability on budgeting,” he said. “There needs to be more consultation with residents. Rather than creating division, I think we need to create some unity.”
–With files from Emily Lazatin