The Surrey Police Board has chosen Delta’s Deputy Police Chief Norm Lipinski to become the first chief constable of the city’s proposed municipal force.
Lipinski first worked with the Edmonton Police Service before joining the RCMP as an assistant commissioner and District Officer in the Lower Mainland Division and the Criminal Operations Officer in E-Division for five years until finally joining Delta.
Lipinski holds a Master of Business Administration degree and a Bachelor of Laws degree.
The board will announce Lipinski formally at an event today.
The following statement was issued by the Surrey Police Board Friday afternoon:
In the coming weeks, Norm Lipinski will assume leadership of the SPS, bringing over 25 years of experience serving within large, urban Canadian municipalities. Prior to joining the Surrey Police Service, Chief Lipinski served as Deputy Chief of both the neighbouring Delta Police Service and the Edmonton Police Service, as well as Assistant Commissioner for the RCMP.
“I am honoured to lead Surrey through this important transition towards a more modern, inclusive, accountable, and community-based policing model,” said Chief Constable Lipinski. “I look forward to working closely with Surrey’s diverse communities to learn more about their priorities and building a service to meet the needs of this rapidly growing and dynamic city.”
“We are confident Chief Norm Lipinski is the right leader to bring Surrey into a new era of modern and progressive policing while staying attuned to the priorities of this growing community,” said Surrey Police Board Chair, Doug McCallum. “A city like Surrey needs a locally governed and accountable service and I am thrilled we are delivering on a promise we made to this city’s residents and business community.”
Chief Constable Lipinski was selected through a rigorous recruitment process led by a third-party professional search firm and vetted through objective decision-making criteria framework that placed particular emphasis on leadership experience, demonstrable experience promoting progressive policing policies, including commitment to de-escalation training and ability to foster a diverse and inclusive environment.
The Chief Constable’s first order of business is to start recruiting officers. The Chief Constable and Surrey Police Board will also immediately get to work developing Surrey Police Service’s first Strategic Plan that will outline the priorities, goals and objectives of the SPS.
