Premier David Eby put the Surrey Police Service and police board under a microscope Tuesday during a meeting with Surrey business leaders related to the ongoing extortion crisis plaguing South Asian businesses and residents in this city.
There will be a change of the guard with five of eight Surrey Police Board directors getting replaced after their terms expire.
Board chairman Harley Chappell confirmed this Tuesday afternoon.
“Today, the provincial government announced that five Surrey Police Board directors will be departing the Board following the expiry of their current terms. These directors will be replaced by new appointees, as determined by the Province and City of Surrey,” his statement reads.
The board consists of volunteers tasked with providing independent oversight of the SPS.
“The Board looks forward to the arrival of new appointees, confirming the community’s public safety and policing priorities, and doing our part to help keep Surrey safe,” Chappell added.
Patience has worn thin on the extortions front as pressure from Surrey Police Board directors came to bear on Chief Constable Norm Lipinski at its November 13 meeting. During that meeting director Bilal Cheema noted there’s “a lot of angst” in the community. “There’s a lot of worry, there’s a lot of fear. What concerns me is that when I hear the chief of our police tell me that we’re reaching our capacity I don’t feel that the criminals are reaching their capacity and that concerns the hell out of me.”
Cheema said at the November board meeting people are asking him for answers and he doesn’t know what to tell them. “I feel ashamed,” he said. “I sit on the Surrey Police Board and they expect me to have answers – I don’t have answers, and I bet some of my colleagues don’t have answers either.”
Eby on Tuesday expressed concern about “inconsistent communications” between the extortion task force and the Surrey Police Service to the community. “These inconsistent communications result in the community feeling that everybody is not on the same page, that they’re not all working together, that they’re not coordinated on the number-one issue in their lives,” he said.
“That is not acceptable, so I fully support the commissioner’s work to get everybody on the same page in British Columbia. It is absolutely vital. To that end, I also had a meeting with the mayor of Surrey to discuss the future of the Surrey Police Service and how we work together more closely to ensure that Surrey Police Service is responsive to community needs.
As for the eight-member board – used to be nine – Eby said police board appointments have been allowed to lapse, leaving vacancies, and that an agreement has been struck between the provincial government and City of Surrey that vacancies will only be filled by “mutual agreement between the mayor’s office and the provincial government through our public safety minister.
“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,” he said. “I’m grateful to move into this mode of operation with the City of Surrey and the mayor, and hope that it will be able to close some of the gaps that the community feels exists between policy for Surrey Police Service and what their wishes are for how the police service operates in our community, particularly around extortion.”
The Surrey Police Board regular meeting for Thursday, February 5, 2026 has been cancelled with an explanation on its website this happened “as a good deal of information to be presented is from individuals who are not able to attend due to unforeseen circumstances” and that “a special meeting will be scheduled in due course, and the next regular meeting is on March 12, 2026 beginning at 2:00 p.m.”
Councillor Rob Stutt – council’s representative on the board – could not be immediately reached for comment, nor could its executive director Jason Kuzminski.
Meantime Mayor Brenda Locke, who is in Ottawa this week trying to drum up federal solutions to the extortion crisis, issued a written statement on Tuesday afternoon, indicating she’s “pleased that the City will be able to collaborate with the province on membership of the Surrey Police Board and ensure it fully reflects the community and their public safety priorities.
“I also look forward to the work of the advisory group to improve communication between the public and the B.C. Extortion Task Force,” Locke added. “It’s crucial we amplify the voices of residents and business owners who have been victimized by extortion and violence for far too long. I agree with Premier Eby that communication must be improved with regular updates from police, and I’m optimistic that this committee is a positive step in that direction.”
Lipinski said the SPS is “supportive of Premier Eby’s call for additional support and new mechanisms to address the ongoing extortion crisis. It is imperative that the community’s voices are heard to help inform our police response.
“As we have said from the beginning, this crisis will not be solved by police alone and long-term solutions must involve the community. Residents and business owners are asking difficult questions of police, and those questions are both valid and necessary,” Lipinski said, adding that “clear and consistent communication is essential.
“While significant work has been done by SPS and our policing partners, it is clear that, collectively, we must do more,” he added.