Keep The RCMP In Surrey Group Questioning VPD Tactics In Trying To Be “Godfathers Of Surrey Police”!

Is Surrey mayor Doug “Paaji” McCallum and his cronies trying to recruit Vancouver Police Deputy Chief Steve Rai to be the new Chief of Surrey Police, which now has a Board but little in the way of transparency in terms of its costs which are expected to be extra $129 million to get less police than Surrey has under the current RCMP. DESIBUZZCanada has previously asked the VPD about Rai’s interest in the Surrey police job when his name had come up but the VPD told us in a written response at the time that Rai wasn’t being courted or was interested in the job.

BY Mr. X – Special to DESIBUZZCanada

SURREY – Is Surrey mayor Doug “Paaji” McCallum and his cronies trying to recruit Vancouver Police Deputy Chief Steve Rai to be the new Chief of Surrey Police, which now has a Board but little in the way of transparency in terms of it’s costs which are expected to be extra $129 million to get less police than Surrey has under the current RCMP.

DESIBUZZCanada has previously asked the VPD about Rai’s interest in the Surrey police job when his name had come up but the VPD told us in a written response at the time that Rai wasn’t being courted or were interested in the job.

But the rumour mill has been grinding non-stop that Rai is interested in the Surrey police job due to the city’s large South Asian population but his connections to the Surrey mayor and cronies have not won him any friends for the job.

Keep The RCMP In Surrey Group (KTRIS), a lobby group advocating for the Surrey RCMP to remain as city’s police force, is calling on Vancouver City Mayor Kennedy Stewart and Council to explain what it calls “the constant interference and meddling of the Vancouver Police Department (VPD) in current City of Surrey Policing and Public Safety issues.”

In a Facebook post, they outlined some of the immediate issues of concern requiring response from Vancouver mayor Stuart Kennedy as well as McCallum:

“Are Vancouver Mayor and Council aware of the many repeated claims made by DC Steve Rai himself that he will be appointed Chief Constable of the new SPD - behavior that DC Rai has apparently been quietly and internally disciplined for by VPD,” they wrote.

KTRIS has asked Mayor Stewart if he, his Council and his Police Board, of which he is the Chair, are aware of the activities and statements of serving VPD Officer Sgt Keiron McConnell that he has already recruited more than 250 serving VPD officers plus a substantial number of RCMP as well as other local municipal police force officers for the proposed SPD?

KTRIS has also asked Mayor Stewart if he is aware that VPD Sgt McConnell has made repeated claims that in return for his recruitment successes, he will be appointed Officer in Charge of the proposed new SPD major crimes unit. KTRIS knows that most consider this to be inappropriate, unacceptable conduct by a police officer in any community.

Furthermore, KTRIS asked Mayor Stewart if he is aware of VPD Chief Palmer’s concerns about the BC Justice Institute's inability to quickly and competently train a sufficient number of police cadets due to COVID-19 shutdowns given that there is already a substantial shortage of police officers across BC?

“Also, on whose authority in Vancouver did Police Chief Palmer dispatch two senior VPD officers to Alberta to study and report on the Calgary Police Academy model that PC Palmer wants to duplicate and establish on an identified site in Surrey?

“Another question to the Vancouver Mayor and Council is why does Chief Palmer support and promote a police plan for Surrey that will have only 803 officers, while at the same time loudly claiming he needs 1,325 officers for Vancouver? He is also on record saying he cannot manage a 1% cut to his $340 million budget as requested by Vancouver Mayor and Council,” they wrote.

KTRIS had also posed a question regarding the role of Vancouver developer Bob Cheema, who is close with Surrey Mayor Doug McCallum, but DESIBUZZCanada received a defamation letter from Cheema's lawyer, stating that Cheema had no role in the selection of Surrey Police Chief or recruitment of Steve Rai. We asked whether the defamation letter was sent to KTRIS, who actually made the statement about Cheema in their news release but we haven't heard anything at press time.

KTRIS requested that Vancouver Mayor Stewart, Council and the Vancouver Police Board immediately advise Chief Palmer and his VPD to stop their constant, unwanted and unappreciated meddling in City of Surrey policing and public safety issues, particularly as it relates to the massively controversial proposal by Surrey Mayor McCallum to create his own SPD.

KTRIS said they commend Mayor Kennedy Stewart for his recent statement that he intends to ensure the VPD are held ''to the highest standards of honesty, transparency and accountability". 

“We therefore ask that the Mayor, Council and VPD live up to this commitment and ensure that both Surrey and Vancouver taxpayers are given prompt answers to what we feel are simple questions of considerable and immediate concern to both of our communities,” they concluded.