The Surrey Police Union says it is concerned after the Surrey Police Board cut $46.95 million from the budget for the upcoming year.
The reduction came from the provisional 2026 budget, which the board endorsed in November.
The union stated, in a release, that the cut represents the annual cost of approximately 87 officers, with the average annual cost of each officer being $158,510.
“Cutting nearly $47 million from policing at the 11th hour, while Surrey is facing an extortion crisis and while SPS is being asked to expand operations and assume additional districts, is reckless,” said Ryan Buhrig, president of the Surrey Police Union, in a release.
“You cannot demand more policing, more visibility and more capacity while simultaneously gutting the resources needed to deliver it.”
This follows the news on Wednesday that Surrey Police Service Chief Norm Lipinski expressed concern about being told they will need to take over District 4, Cloverdale, from the RCMP before they have enough officers to do so.
The union says Surrey residents should be asking the police board if there will be times that officers won’t be able to respond to calls, or if there will be cuts to critical teams, such as school liaison and mental health units.
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The union said there is also a concern that fewer officers may be available for patrol and proactive policing.
“At minimum, the Police Board must publicly disclose what services will be cut,” Buhrig added in a statement.
“The community should not learn about reductions only after response times rise, proactive patrol drops, or specialized supports disappear.”
The City of Surrey is also in the midst of an extortion crisis.
“Our members are under tremendous stress,” Buhrig told Global News on Thursday.
“We have an unprecedented extortion crisis in Surrey that’s drawing members away from front-line policing. And at the same time, we’re being directed by the province to take over additional districts.
“Now is not the time to be cutting police budgets. Now is the time to give us the resources to make sure that Surrey is safe.”
Surrey Mayor Brenda Locke, however, said she is pleased to have a budget that furthers the balance between protecting public safety and keeping taxes low.
“We are funding exactly the number of police officers they asked us to, 189 officers are being funded,” Locke said on Thursday.
“And so I’m sure once they fully understand the budget, they will see it differently.”
According to Surrey police, as of Monday, Feb. 16, since the beginning of the year, there have been 53 reported extortion cases in Surrey, with 11 shots fired, two related arsons and 31 victims, 17 of whom are repeat victims.
The Canada Border Services Agency said on Tuesday it had launched probes into 296 people who were “brought to our attention by B.C Extortion Task Force partner agencies as persons of interest.”
The latest statistics, which are as of Feb. 4, represent a sharp increase from just a month ago, when the task force said that just over 100 CBSA investigations were underway.
Immigration enforcement officers are reviewing the files for “potential inadmissibility,” meaning the CBSA may try to remove the individuals from Canada for immigration violations.
“As a result of these investigations, 32 people have been issued a removal order, including 10 people who have already been removed from Canada,” the CBSA said in a statement.
–with files from Stewart Bell
© 2026 Global News, a division of Corus Entertainment Inc.
