{"id":953204,"date":"2026-10-31T13:54:17","date_gmt":"2026-10-31T13:54:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/953204\/"},"modified":"2026-10-31T13:54:17","modified_gmt":"2026-10-31T13:54:17","slug":"todd-matsumoto-named-new-surrey-police-service-chief","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/953204\/","title":{"rendered":"Todd Matsumoto named new Surrey Police Service chief"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Text<\/p>\n

Listen to this article<\/p>\n

Estimated 2 minutes<\/p>\n

The audio version of this article is generated by AI-based technology. Mispronunciations can occur. We are working with our partners to continually review and improve the results.<\/p>\n

The Surrey Police Board has named Todd Matsumoto to the top job of chief constable of the Surrey Police Service (SPS).<\/p>\n

Matsumoto was appointed chief constable this past June after former Surrey police chief Norm Lipinski was fired.<\/p>\n

In a news release issued Friday, the Surrey Police Board said Matsumoto was chosen after a comprehensive national search.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Matsumoto told CBC News that his top priority is public safety with a focus on the extortion crisis.\u00a0<\/p>\n

WATCH | Extortion threats down in Surrey:\"\"<\/p>\n

Extortion threats down but fight isn’t over, Surrey police say<\/p>\n

“We can’t let our foot off the gas,” he said. “As much as the incidences of extortions may wax and wane, we have to make sure that we continue on hammering it as much as we can.”\u00a0<\/p>\n

Matsumoto also said Surrey has made significant progress in its transition from the RCMP to the Surrey Police Service, with the SPS now responsible for policing in four of the city’s five policing districts. Only District 2 (Guildford-Fleetwood) remains under RCMP responsibility. He said the timeline for finalizing the transition is still in the works. <\/p>\n

“We are working very well, very collaboratively, with our RCMP colleagues on this and I’m very happy with that planning,” he said. <\/p>\n

Matsumoto previously served as deputy chief constable of the SPS. He began his policing career in New Westminster in 1993 working in investigative and administrative roles.<\/p>\n

After Lipinski, who was hired to oversee the RCMP to SPS transition in 2020, was fired in June, the Surrey Police Union questioned whether he was taking the blame for clashes between Surrey Mayor Brenda Locke, the City of Surrey and the province.<\/p>\n

In the wake of Lipinski’s firing, two Surrey Police Board members, including then-chair Harley Chappell, resigned.<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

Former Surrey police chief Norm Lipinski filed a petition in B.C. Supreme Court challenging his dismissal. (Ben Nelms\/CBC)<\/p>\n

Last month, Lipinski filed a petition<\/a> in B.C. Supreme Court challenging his dismissal, arguing that it was unlawful and seeking to have the decision overturned. <\/p>\n

Matsumoto said he hopes his hiring sends a signal of stability to the community and to SPS staff.\u00a0<\/p>\n

“I think this is the board’s way of moving forward by naming a permanent chief. I think it’s important that it’s out there and that the community has confidence in the Surrey Police leadership in place.”<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Listen to this article Estimated 2 minutes The audio version of this article is generated by AI-based technology.…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":953205,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[194299],"tags":[49,48,87674],"class_list":["post-953204","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-surrey","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-surrey"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/953204","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=953204"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/953204\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/953205"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=953204"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=953204"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=953204"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}