Cost of police chief’s firing for Surrey taxpayers not yet clear

Many questions around the abrupt ouster of Surrey’s police chief remain unanswered, including what the move will cost taxpayers.

As the fallout continues from the Surrey Police Board’s decision to fire Surrey Police Service Chief Norm Lipinski, many questions remain unanswered.

Among them are why the board chose to make the move just months after Lipinski signed a new three-year contract—and exactly how much the city will have to pay Lipinski to walk away.

At an unrelated event at City Hall on Tuesday, the mayor pushed back on the suggestion that she was responsible for the decision.

“These are HR issues and they’re always challenging. But it really is up to the Surrey Police Board to manage that,” Brenda Locke said.

“I only know what I get from the police board. As you know, we do not make those decisions at city hall. It’s all made by the Surrey Police Board.”

Satish Kumar, a Surrey businessman who has hosted community forums on public safety at his banquet hall told CTV News he doesn’t know if the sudden change is the right decision, but he’s hopeful the next chief will be able to get a handle on extortion and related shootings plaguing the city.

“A lot of intelligent people are coming up. Maybe they can change their philosophies, and it might be better,” he said. “Hopefully, the new chief can do a better job to control everything in Surrey.”

It was just two months ago, Lipinski himself announced extortion incidents were down.

“We’ve seen a meaningful decline in both extortion threats and shots fired incidents linked to extortions,” he said in a video released by SPS in April.

Former B.C. attorney general Wally Oppal struggles to make sense of the decision to relieve Lipinski of his duties in the midst of a transition from the RCMP to a municipal force, and while the city grapples with extortion-related violence.

“I don’t think anyone can say he didn’t do a satisfactory job, so much so that they renewed his contract,” Oppal said.

CTV News has learned the board told Lipinski he was being terminated without cause.

“If you wrongfully terminate someone’s contract, you reach an agreement and you pay the price,” Oppal said. “And that’s what the taxpayers of Surrey will be doing.”