Opinion: Surrey Police Board defends its work as directors replaced

To the Editor:

Last week, Premier David Eby announced the province was allowing appointments of four Surrey Police Board directors to lapse as part of his government’s response to the extortion crisis south of the Fraser. In doing so, he stated that “The goal here is to deliver what local policing is meant to be for the people of Surrey—a police board that is reflective of the community, that directs police along the lines of community priorities.” Respectfully, the directors who were let go do reflect the community, and the Board has been providing direction to Surrey Police Service (SPS) that is firmly grounded in community priorities. 

Sarbjit Bains, Christine Mohr, Nerissa Allen and Sonia Parmar are all leaders from Surrey who are truly reflective of Surrey. Sarbjit is a respected member of Surrey’s South Asian community who is often called “Uncle-ji” and cannot walk into a room without being approached by people coming up to him to ask for or offer advice. Christine recently retired as CEO of Options Community Services, a social services agency headquartered in Surrey that operates transition housing, crisis counselling, shelter services and more. Nerissa is a leader in Surrey’s Black community—the largest in BC—and co-founded Black Business Association of BC which she continues to serve as its president. Sonia, a partner at a Surrey accounting firm, was recognized as Volunteer of the Year at Surrey’s 2025 Community Leader Awards. These four individuals were all merit-based choices of the province who consulted the City of Surrey on their appointments just one year ago. While Surrey is fortunate to have many capable individuals willing to volunteer service, these four directors brought exceptional experience, insight and commitment. Their contributions will not be easily replaced.

The decision not to renew these directors has come as a surprise. At no point did the Province advise that their performance fell short of expectations. On the contrary, they and the Board were led to believe that their appointments would be renewed. In some cases, they were personally told that they were being extended. As well, the Board received feedback from the Province and was regularly commended for the progress being made on determining community priorities and putting governance structures and procedures in place. 

In terms of community priorities that provide direction to SPS, the Surrey Police Board has done significant work since it was appointed last year. Through community surveys, residents identified top public safety concerns and what they expected of their police service.  In May, the Board met with City Council to review those priorities and hear Council’s perspective. Over the summer, this input was consolidated into a consultation paper discussed at three public Board meetings in fall 2025.  A resulting  “What We Heard” report summarizing the  community’s policing and public safety priorities was posted to the Board’s website, distributed to media and shared directly with community stakeholders.

The engagement process confirmed three clear policing priorities for Surrey:

• 1.      Addressing the extortion crisis
• 2.    Completing the policing transition
• 3.    Ensuring a visible SPS presence in the community 

These priorities were on the agenda for approval at the February board meeting that had to be postponed. It would be surprising if the priorities are not aligned with the Province’s or City Council’s, and they will be taken up at the next Board meeting. The perspective of new appointees will be welcome, but there should be no doubt that the outgoing and remaining directors followed best practice by engaging the community to ensure that the policing priorities genuinely reflect the community. 

I want to close by thanking the current and past Surrey Police Board directors for their commitment and service to their community. We are all volunteers who accepted the challenge and responsibility of our appointments out of a sense of duty to the people of Surrey and because we care about fostering a police service that reflects and is accountable to the community. None of us came to the role looking for praise, but those who donate their time and expertise in service to their community deserve to be treated with respect – which means treating others the way you would like to be treated.

Harley Chappell

Chair, Surrey Police Board