Surrey announces police chief for new force

The City of Surrey, B.C., has hired the deputy chief constable from the neighbouring city of Delta to head its new municipal police force.

Norm Lipinski was announced as the new police chief at a news conference Friday.

Lipinski previously worked for the Edmonton Police Service and the RCMP before his role in Delta.

The city says in a release that Lipinski was selected through a rigorous recruitment process, led by a third party, and his first order of business will be to recruit officers to join the fledgling force.

Surrey Mayor Doug McCallum won election on the campaign promise to create a municipal police force in 2018 and the council later voted to terminate Surrey's contract with the RCMP.

The union representing RCMP officers criticized the selection process, saying in a statement that Lipinski's hiring was done without any public consultation.