By Fabian Dawson
New Canadian Media

This past summer of discontent against police has set the stage for Norm Lipinski, the new top cop in Surrey, who is vowing a slew of changes in one of Canada’s fastest-growing and most culturally diverse cities.

From more cops on bikes to walking the beat and welcome soirees for new Canadians, Lipinski’s central goal revolves around creating a force that will police the plurality of Surrey with constant engagement and strident enforcement.

“That will begin with creating a command structure that reflects the diversity of Surrey both in ethnicity and gender,” Lipinksi told NCM as he prepared for his new role that will begin later this month.

“We can learn a lot from the anti-police sentiment that has swept many parts of the world this past summer, especially in the US and from the great work the RCMP has done in Surrey. But now is a time for change to remove tensions and rebuild confidence in the police.

“We can do it and build a more modern, inclusive, accountable, and community-based model,” said Lipinski, who brings 42 years of policing experience to Surrey, where close to half of residents are immigrants.

Lipinsky said the first order of business will be to hire a complement of senior staff and officers that will be reflective of the community with recruitment efforts targeting ethnic and indigenous communities and women.

The RCMP employs nearly three-quarters of B.C.’s 9,500 police with 18 percent of its officers coming from visible minority groups and another five percent comprising Indigenous persons. About 20 percent of RCMP members across the country are women.

While these numbers may be representative for rural communities, it is out of whack for places like Surrey, where 34% of residents speak English as a secondary language and where females outnumber males in the general population.

Lipinski believes that there will be a direct correlation between better diversity in the Surrey Police Force and improved confidence in perceptions of police performance among different visible minority groups.

Statistics Canada said in a report last week that people designated as visible minorities report less confidence in the police than non-visible minority people.

Just over one-third (35%) of Canadians belonging to population groups designated as visible minorities reported having a great deal of confidence in the police in 2019, compared with 44% among non-visible minority people, the national number crunchers said.

Confidence levels also varied among different visible minority groups. For example, Southeast Asian (25%) and Chinese (26%) Canadians were less likely to report a great deal of confidence in the police compared with non-visible minority people (44%).

Lipinski, a former assistant commissioner for the RCMP’s E-Division in B.C., said he will be reaching out to faith leaders, community groups, NGOs, neighbourhood associations and local media among others as he works on a strategic plan for the Surrey Police Force, which will have 1,150 employees — 805 police officers, 325 civilian positions and 20 Community Safety Personnel (CSP).

Surrey, currently, is the only one of 19 major Canadian population centres with more than 300,000 people without a local police department.

A self-described data geek, with a Master of Business Administration degree as well as a Bachelor of Laws degree, Lipinski plans to use the community consultations to draw up a delivery service model that will hinge on a $200 million budget annually.

“If the data shows we can deliver better service by having officers out of their cars and walking the beat or on bikes, we will do it,” said Lipinski.

The veteran cop also plans to meet and greet sessions for immigrants and refugees as they settle in Surrey which is home to about a fifth of all new arrivals to BC.

“Our recruiting will be different, our tone will be different and our engagement will be different,” Lipinsky added.

“We are confident Chief Norm Lipinski is the right leader to bring Surrey into a new era of modern and progressive policing while staying attuned to the priorities of this growing community,” said Surrey Police Board Chair and mayor, Doug McCallum.

“A city like Surrey needs a locally governed and accountable service and I am thrilled we are delivering on a promise we made to this city’s residents and business community,” he said.