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The chair of Surrey’s police board says the province’s plan to shake up the board and possibly replace it entirely is poorly timed given the state of policing and safety in the city.
On Tuesday, B.C. Premier David Eby said the province is “making changes” to the Surrey Police Board.
The police board is made up of community volunteers to provide independent oversight of the Surrey Police Service.
“What we’ve been doing is leaving vacancies in the police board as people come to the end of their terms,” Eby said. “Eventually, potentially the whole board will be replaced. But right now we’re filling those vacancies on the board in co-operation with the mayor to ensure that Surrey Police is connected and fully supported by municipal and provincial governments in the broader community.”
In an interview with CBC News, Surrey Police Board chair Harley Chappell said there’s a lot going on in Surrey right now — what with an extortion crisis and an ongoing police transition — and getting new members caught up on everything would be a challenge.
“There’s lots of work to do,” Chappell said. “Hopefully the reappointments don’t lag too long. And then obviously orientation and getting those directors caught up to speed is gonna take a period of time.”
In an email to CBC News, the police board confirmed four board members whose terms expired and won’t be renewed: Sonia Parmar, Christine Mohr, Nerissa Allen and Sarbjit Bains.
They will be replaced by new members, appointed by the province and the City of Surrey, said Chappell, who is also elected Chief of the Semiahmoo First Nation.
The news comes as Surrey, B.C.’s second largest city by population, is still in the midst of transitioning from the RCMP to a municipal police force, and as the region grapples with a spate of extortion attempts and related violence.
As of Feb. 2, the Surrey Police Service says there have been 46 extortion attempts and 11 extortion-related shootings in the city since the beginning of the year. There’s also been one arson related to extortion, and 29 victims have been identified, the police service adds.
In 2025, there were 132 extortion attempts in Surrey, 49 of them involving shootings, according to police.
“The thing that upset me is really bad timing,” Chappell said about the police board changes.
“You don’t change riders in the middle of a stream, right? You don’t hop off and kind of move on. We’re neck deep right now.”
