Surrey, B.C. (July 21, 2025): Surrey First Councillor Linda Annis says Brenda Locke’s “petty politics and foot dragging” since being elected mayor in 2022 has added an additional year to the full police transition.

 

“Everyone but Brenda Locke is working hard to complete the police transition as quickly as possible, but she has spent years throwing up costly and time consuming roadblocks, court challenges, and politically motivated speed bumps,” said Annis. “The result is a transition process that will now be completed in 2027 rather than 2026. The frustrating part is that Mayor Locke’s actions are the cause, but she now wants to blame the province and the Surrey Police Service.”

 

Annis said the Surrey Police Service is now at 550 members, with continuing recruitment.

 

“When Brenda Locke tried everything to block the transition, including a costly and unnecessary court case, she stalled recruitment because potential recruits who were keen to join the SPS wanted certainty, but her actions caused doubts,” said Annis. “Chief Norm Lipinski and his team have done a tremendous job of recruiting, including hiring former Surrey RCMP officers who want to remain in our city and grow with the SPS.”

 

Annis said the mayor of a city should be a champion for its police department because of the important public safety work officers do each and every day.

 

“The relationship between a mayor and a city’s police department has to be solid, professional, honest, and built on a shared vision for the community,” added Annis. “That has never been the case with Brenda Locke and her approach to the SPS. She calls the SPS a failed experiment, and now her stalling tactics have taken a toll in terms of how long the transition will take. It didn’t have to be that way, and Mayor Locke knows that. The transition is taking longer than necessary, all because of one person’s political ego.”

 

Annis said Locke’s stalling tactics have meant paying simultaneously for two police departments longer, something that could have been avoided.