City of Surrey moves to court to block police transfer

The City of Surrey says it is filing a petition in the B.C. Supreme Court challenging the province's order to convert the RCMP into a municipal police force.

The move, announced in a statement on Friday, has been a long-running dispute.

"My team and I were elected to stop the proposed police change," Mayor Brenda Locke said in a statement.

It is worth mentioning that on July 19, B.C. Public Safety Minister Mike Farnworth directed the City of Surrey to replace its existing RCMP force with the Surrey Police Service.

Farnworth said everyone has a right to be safe in their community and all British Columbians deserve safe, stable policing they can count on, but Mayor Brenda Locke has been repeatedly called for RCMP services to continue in Surrey.