Surrey Police Board slammed for ‘gag’ order on what chief can say to media
Published 10:10 am Thursday, June 18, 2026
The embattled Surrey Police Board is facing heavy criticism after its members voted in favour June 17 of a governance committee recommendation to rope in what the Surrey Police Service chief constable and other senior executives can say to news media and “stakeholders” related to matters of police governance, oversight, board direction, organizational priorities and decisions involving the provincial government and city hall.
The governance committee recommendation, contained in a report entitled Executive Communications on Intergovernmental Affairs and Governance Matters, states its purpose is to “ensure alignment between the board and management” by establishing guidelines for comment and “prohibits comments that reflect on intergovernmental affairs.”
Among principles stated are focusing on “informing, not influencing or critiquing governance decision-making.”
“Communications on governance issues and intergovernmental affairs are the purview of the Surrey Police Board,” the approved report states.
Former Surrey mayor Doug McCallum, who is running once again as mayoral candidate for the Safe Surrey Coalition, said the directive will bar the chief constable and senior officers from criticizing the mayor, board and provincial government and is a move to “control the narrative” before voters go to the polls on October 17.
“Let us be clear about what is happening here,” McCallum stated in a press release. “Four months before an election, Brenda Locke’s board is moving to gag the police. They want to put a muzzle on the Chief. They want to silence the officers who protect this city. And they are doing it for one reason. Brenda Locke wants to control the narrative before Surrey votes. She cannot have police officers telling the public the truth about public safety while she is asking that same public for her job back.”
McCallum noted the board’s former chairman Harley Chappell, who resigned after chief constable Norm Lipinski was fired, had “told this city the political tentacles had gone too far. He resigned over it. People wondered if he was exaggerating,” said McCallum.
“Here is my promise to the men and women of the Surrey Police Service,” McCallum added. “No officer in this city will ever be gagged for telling the public the truth about their safety. Not on my watch. I built the Surrey Police Service to serve the people of Surrey, not to protect a politician’s re-election.”
In 2002, when McCallum was heading into a third election run for mayor, on a law-and-order platform, Surrey had just been dubbed the car-theft capital of North America followed by Phoenix, Arizona. Roughly midway through his nine-year run as mayor, McCallum was accused of leaning on the Surrey RCMP to suppress information it released to the public – in effect, trying to boost Surrey’s image by censoring press releases about crime in the city.
McCallum denied this up and down amid a flurry of newspaper headlines at the time like “RCMP asked to keep city’s crime woes under wraps,” “Mayor denies cop gag order: E-mail hints otherwise,” “Mayor denies trying to stop RCMP press releases on crime in the area,” “Keeping the lid on crime news,” “McCallum contacted RCMP about Surrey image,” “Surrey Mounties vow they won’t be gagged by mayor” and, finally, “Mayor sorry for meddling with police.”
During its first board meeting, on June 17, since Lipinski was fired the board was hammered by critics during a public question-and-answer session. Its next meeting is set for September 10.