--- title: "Surrey Police Service takes over last RCMP neighbourhoods as new council votes on police commitments" description: "The RCMP is completing its withdrawal from Cloverdale and Guildford this month, leaving the Surrey Police Service 133 officers short of its 860-member target as a new council prepares to vote on a helicopter fleet and more officers." canonical_url: "https://voche.me/bc/surrey-2026/news/surrey-police-transition-rcmp-withdrawal-elford-november-2026" last_updated: "2026-11-07T17:35:11.394Z" --- The RCMP is completing its withdrawal from Surrey this month, pulling out of Cloverdale and Guildford, the last two neighbourhoods it still serves. The Surrey Police Service has 727 sworn officers as of October 2026, which is 133 short of the 860 the City originally said it needed to complete the transition. The new Surrey City Council meets for the first time on November 9 and is scheduled to vote on commitments that include a police helicopter and drone fleet within 90 days, and to appoint a councillor to the Surrey Police Board. ## Where the RCMP transition stands The Surrey Police Service became the city's police of jurisdiction on November 29, 2024. RCMP officers in a provincial support unit have remained in Cloverdale and Guildford through the transition, covering the final two neighbourhoods. Surrey Citizen reported this week that the RCMP will withdraw from those areas this November. As recently as November 2025, the RCMP and the SPS were still disagreeing about when the SPS would have enough officers to take over, Surrey Citizen said. The SPS had set 860 sworn members as its target for a full transition. As of October 2026, the force has 727 sworn officers: 33 senior officers, 25 staff sergeants, 110 sergeants, 470 constables and 90 recruits, according to the SPS's own organizational structure page. The 2026 provisional budget, published by the Surrey Police Board in December 2025, set an intermediate target of 808 sworn members by end of 2026. That is 94 percent of the 860-member end goal. At 727, the SPS is 81 of that interim target, with the RCMP withdrawing in the same month. ## How the province forced the transition The transition has a complicated history. For two years, 2022 to 2024, then-mayor Brenda Locke tried to cancel the Surrey Police Service and return to the RCMP. The provincial government intervened in 2024, directed the City to continue with the SPS, and committed $250 million over 10 years to support the transition. The 2026 budget set the SPS's total operating budget at $284.5 million, with $168.58 million going to sworn member salaries. The budget also included $24.95 million for the RCMP's provincial support unit in 2026, down from $32.91 million in 2025 as the RCMP's presence in Surrey shrinks. To fill the 860-member target faster, the SPS offered signing bonuses to experienced officers from other forces. Surrey Citizen reported the bonus was up to $25,000 plus up to $10,000 for relocation in July 2025. In March 2026 the SPS raised the signing bonus to $30,000 and ran an advertising campaign. The Surrey Police Board's last public meeting was October 22. Surrey Citizen said the board did not address the RCMP withdrawal or the officer shortfall at that meeting, and the board has not responded to the outlet's questions about how the SPS plans to cover the city with fewer officers than originally planned. ## Elford expected on the police board The November 9 agenda includes a Clerk's Report item: appointing one councillor to the Surrey Police Board for a four-year term ending October 31, 2030. The seat was previously held by Rob Stutt of Surrey Connect, who was not re-elected in the October 2026 election. North Delta Reporter and Surrey Now-Leader reported that [Councillor Doug Elford](/bc/surrey-2026/candidates/doug-elford) of the Safe Surrey Coalition is expected to receive that appointment. Elford declined to comment before the official vote. "It's not official yet," he told the Now-Leader. "I'm not really commenting until it happens." Newly elected Councillor Cheney Cloke also has a history with the board: she served as its vice-chairwoman until her term expired at the end of 2022. The Surrey Police Board's next regular meeting after the November 9 appointment is set for Wednesday, November 18. ## McCallum's police promises go to a vote November 9 Two of the 15 election commitments [Mayor Doug McCallum](/bc/surrey-2026/candidates/doug-mccallum) plans to put to a council vote on November 9 concern the Surrey Police Service. The first is a helicopter and a fleet of drones for the SPS within 90 days of taking office. The second is deploying more officers with a zero-tolerance policy on crime and extortion. McCallum pledged in the Surrey Now-Leader during the campaign: "Within 90 days of taking office, a police helicopter and a fleet of drones will be over Surrey." The 90-day deadline from the November 2 swearing-in would fall on January 31, 2027. Both commitments are on the [Surrey promise tracker](/bc/surrey-2026/tracker). The Link Newspaper reported that at the November 2 inauguration, McCallum said: "The people of Surrey did not elect this Council to study things. They elected us to get things done, and that work starts at our first meeting." ## What residents can do The November 9 council meeting starts at 7 p.m. at Surrey City Hall and is open to the public. It will be livestreamed at surrey.ca. That meeting is when the council is scheduled to vote on the helicopter fleet, the crime commitments, and the police board appointment. Anyone who wants to watch those votes can attend in person or follow the stream. The [Surrey promise tracker](/bc/surrey-2026/tracker) will record how each commitment progresses through the term. ## Sitemap See the full [sitemap](/bc/surrey-2026/sitemap.md) for all pages.