hours before the meeting<\/a> it will hire an independent accounting firm to do a financial review of the Surrey Police Service in preparation for the 2027 budget process. The review is expected to be completed by October. The election is set for October 17.<\/p>\n\u201cOur members want politics out of policing,\u201d Buhrig said. \u201cThey want to come to work, solve crime, put bad guys in jail and serve the community but this is becoming increasingly difficult when they\u2019re under a persistent political cloud.\u201d<\/p>\n
Buhrig noted many of the board members have \u201cclose ties\u201d with city hall and asked what specific steps it\u2019s taking to \u201cinsulate police officers from the perception of a conflict of interest.\u201d<\/p>\n
And then the sound cut out. \u201cThank you sergeant, we\u2019ll take your question under advisement,\u201d Stutt replied when it came back on. \u201cI\u2019ll remind you that this is not a political forum it is a police board meeting.\u201d<\/p>\n
A second speaker said \u201cthere are too many political interests on this board.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYour opportunity to speak is over,\u201d Stutt told her as she asked director Larry Thomas if he filed the motion to have Lipinski fired.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m not at liberty to discuss that,\u201d Thomas replied.<\/p>\n
Stutt then called a recess as she called for the board to provide a \u201crationale\u201d for the firing.<\/p>\n
\u201cInstead of answering questions, they\u2019re going to walk away,\u201d she pointed out.<\/p>\n
What followed were calls of \u201cshame\u201d and \u201cboo.\u201d<\/p>\n
When the meeting resumed, another speaker told the board he asked how recent developments affects extortion investigations and \u201cfront-line safety.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYou\u2019re off the agenda again, sir,\u201d Stutt replied.<\/p>\n
\u201cAs an extortion victim, I want to know how this leadership changes affects extortion investigations and front-line safety in Surrey,\u201d the man rejoined.<\/p>\n
\u201cNext question please,\u201d Stutt replied. \u201cWant to address that chief?\u201d<\/p>\n
Interim Chief C0nstable Todd Matsumoto told the speaker \u201cthank you for your question, it won\u2019t \u2013 the transition will not affect Surrey Police response to the extortions or any other crime that are taking place here in Surrey.<\/p>\n
\u201cAs I said, this leadership change will not delay or impact or interrupt any of our responses to extortions or any other crimes in Surrey.\u201d<\/p>\n
The speaker then asked if the board will release a \u201cclear written explanation\u201d why Lipinski was fired.<\/p>\n
Stutt replied his question was \u201cout of order.\u201d<\/p>\n
And then, it was politicians talking to politicians when Mike Starchuk, mayoral candidate for Imagine Surrey, took the speakers\u2019 mic. He noted police boards are intended to provide a buffer between \u201cpolitical officials and the leadership of non-partisan police departments.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cMy question is, when the budget comes forward again, councillor Stutt, will you be voting on that.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes, it\u2019s my intention,\u201d Stutt replied.<\/p>\n
\u201cThank your for your enthusiasm, but you\u2019re using up the time we have for this meeting,\u201d Stutt told Starchuk.<\/p>\n
A previous speaker returned for another go at the board, calling for its members to \u201cplease resign, every single one of you.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou deserve it,\u201d she said. \u201cThe public doesn\u2019t want you.\u201d<\/p>\n
The board\u2019s next meeting is set for September 10.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Acting Surrey Police Board chairman Rob Stutt \u2013 a Surrey Connect councillor \u2013 called a recess to its…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":743871,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[194299],"tags":[49,48,163792,87674],"class_list":["post-753465","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-surrey","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-lower-mainland","tag-surrey"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/753465","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=753465"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/753465\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/743871"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=753465"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=753465"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=753465"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}