Former RCMP officer and now Surrey councillor Jack Hundial is worried about the city’s safety.

According to the ex-Mountie, the city’s plan to create its own municipal police force to replace the RCMP detachment will put fewer cops on the streets when the transition begins.

The city is hoping to get the Surrey Police Department on the ground on April 1, 2021.

According to a media release by Hundial, Surrey currently lacks police officers even with the Surrey RCMP detachment’s complement of 843 officers.

Citing the Surrey Policing Transition Plan, Hundial’s release noted that the city expects to have 461 new officers when the SPD begins operations “with the hopes that more officers will eventually join them”.

“Even if SPD was able to hire all 461 brand new patrol officers to start the SPD, they are prepared to go with only 379 on patrol…,” according to the media release, referring to the same document.

Citing the same policing transition plan, Hundial’s release said that the SPD will “also have significantly fewer supervisory personnel”.

“With up to 461 new officers on patrol, it’s predictable that the new police department will have more problems and challenges than a typical police department,” according to the media release. “This report fails to acknowledge or mitigate this risk.”

Speaking in the release, Hundial cited his experience as a police officer for 25 years and as a front-line police supervisor in Surrey.

According to Hundial, “less supervision leads to increased taxpayer liability and less effective public safety”.

In July this year, Hundial quit the Safe Surrey Coalition of Mayor Doug McCallum.

McCallum campaigned in the 2018 municipal election on a platform that included replacing the RCMP, which provides policing services on contract, with a Surrey police force.

Based on the highlights of the city’s policing transition plan, Surrey is the only Canadian city with a population of more than 300,000 without a local police department.

The same summary noted that the Surrey RCMP detachment’s authorized strength of 843 officers has 51 vacancies.

“As a result, the Surrey RCMP has a funded strength of 792 officers,” the paper stated. “There are 302 City of Surrey employees directly supporting the Surrey RCMP. The City of Surrey pays 100% of the costs associated with these support staff.”

According to the document, the future SPD will consist of 805 police officers, plus 325 civilian positions and 20 community safety personnel.