Say No to a Surrey Police Foundation

Jeff Shantz

New Surrey Police Service Chief Constable Norm Lipinski’s announcement that a Surrey Police Foundation should be established and operated “full on” by early next year should be raising some eyebrows. Police associations in Canada have received relatively little attention, but as a developing controversy in Vancouver over a $1 million donation to the Vancouver Police Foundation for targeted policing projects shows there are reasons for residents to ask questions.

Police foundations in Canada receive donations from “corporate partners,” including LNG Canada, Royal Bank of Canada, Enbridge, Cenovus, and numerous real estate companies. Critics suggest this raises prospects of conflicts of interest that could prioritize business needs over community needs.

In Vancouver, the police foundation has paid for a patrol boat, night-vision binoculars, a drone program, an armoured vehicle and a $500,000 SWAT mobile command truck. Do Surrey residents really want this militarized policing in our city? Do we really want private businesses driving it?

In Vancouver, critics have suggested that the donation, by property developer Peter Wall could amount to a “pay to play” arrangement, especially given that Wall wants to see the money go to policing drug use in the downtown eastside.

Many Surrey residents are already cynical about perceived developer influence on city councils, over years. Right now, the city is dealing with a controversy, and lawsuit, over just this issue. Does a corporate partnership foundation funding police really help this perception, especially with the concerns being raised about transparency and the police transition?

White Rock Gives More Money to Cops

Jeff Shantz

It is unfortunate to see that White Rock council has found even more money for police in a year with declining crime rates and as communities across Canada have been calling for a rethinking of police funding and the need to provide more financial supports for community resources in health care, youth programs, and anti-racism work.

Council has now approved $110,000 for the police server room and $25,000 for RCMP interior renovations. This while the city has to cover revenue shortfalls estimated at $1.8 million as outlined in the 2020 financial plan.

The city’s 2019 to 2023 financial plan showed that nine percent of city expenses already go to policing. That is more than recreation and culture, three times more than parks, and more than fire services.

While $135,000 may seem like a relatively small amount, we know how much that amount could do for community groups, for youth groups and programs, for harm reduction. Many of these groups do not even have access to office space, let alone a server room. So, while these groups have to run bake sales or online auctions or start a gofundme page to survive, the city can find hundreds of thousands of dollars more for the RCMP. That is not justice.