Surrey police have been involved in two recent pedestrian fatalities. Why isn’t more revealed?
Information by the police oversight agency should be disclosed consistently, says veteran officer Rick Parent
By Sobia Moman
Last updated 1 day ago
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A reluctance by authorities and a provincial oversight agency to release basic details about two fatal collisions involving Surrey police vehicles and pedestrians shows a lack of transparency when police are being investigated, observers say.
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“There’s a tendency to say very little and to just give a very brief bit of information and then leave it until it goes through the process which can take years, and that’s damaging to everybody, it’s counter-productive,” said Rick Parent, a former Delta police officer and retired criminology professor at Simon Fraser University.
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Surrey police have been involved in two recent pedestrian fatalities. Why isn’t more revealed? Back to video
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The most recent incident happened on Christmas Day. A female pedestrian was struck by a Surrey police cruiser near a gas station at 132 Street and 108 Avenue, in Whalley around 6 a.m. The woman suffered life-threatening injuries and died in hospital, police confirmed.
On Dec. 14, another woman died after being struck by a Surrey police car. That incident happened around 7:20 p.m. at the intersection of 152 Street and 64 Avenue.
Both fatalities are under investigation by the Independent Investigations Office of B.C., a civilian-led police oversight agency.
Postmedia reached out to Surrey police and the IIO for more details, including the status and experience of the officers involved, the positioning of the vehicles and whether sirens were activated, the position of the pedestrians, and if the cruisers had dash-camera footage.
SPS referred comment to the IIO, which refused to comment on either case.
“This is a problem within oversight agencies in general, and also specific in the IIO,” Parent said.
Withholding information doesn’t answer the questions many members of the public have, he added, including: Do the police know what they are doing? Are there underlying issues within the police system they are unaware of?
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“If the IIO does not fill that void, something else will,” Parent said. “We also know the IIO has privileged information immediately. Within a few hours, they have a good idea of what’s going on and then within 24 hours, they probably have an excellent idea of what’s going on.”
The IIO has a history of keeping information close to its chest. Recent investigations posted to the IIO website show years-old cases without any updates, such as a July 2024 incident where an off-duty New Westminster officer struck a pedestrian who sustained serious injuries.
“One incident is a tragedy, but two incidents in one month suggest a disturbing organizational problem and the Surrey Police Service would be advised to do all it can to deal with that problem,” said Temitope Oriola, a University of Alberta criminology professor and former special adviser on the Alberta government’s 2022 review of the Police Act.
The fatal incidents could also point to concerns regarding recruitment and training, especially for a new police force, Oriola said, adding that in Canada, more education and training should be required than what exists.
Recommending charges against the police is also rare for the IIO, said Oriola.
Charges were recommended against a Vancouver officer who struck and seriously injured a pedestrian in May 2024, but the IIO took nearly a year for its determination. And a November 2023 investigation into a Revelstoke RCMP officer who hit and injured two pedestrians with their vehicle also led the IIO to recommend charges against the officer in September 2024.
It is unknown if charges were laid against either of the two cops, as the IIO did not disclose their names.
Kwantlen Polytechnic University criminologist Jeff Shantz has called for better police transparency in a letter to the editor published in the Surrey Now-Leader.
“What are the driving records of the officers involved, either in Surrey or with other forces? What has their training been and how recently? What occurred on their shifts before the collisions? Do they really know the areas they patrol? Do these collisions suggest carelessness or disregard for people in our communities?” wrote Shantz.
“What we really need to know are the capabilities of the officers driving (the cars) and their level of regard for community safety while driving.”
Evidence shows that a small percentage of police officers are involved in incidents, Oriola said, but a lack of accountability and information can make it look worse than it is.
“This is how public trust in police services evaporates, and it’s important to not let this incident lead to that because, again, we would be undoing the hard work of the majority of officers who will never knock down or be involved in the killing of any civilian,” Oriola said.
Oversight agencies are still necessary, Parent said, to prevent police from not being forthcoming, as has happened in the past. But the role needs to be enhanced. He said the IIO should have its own oversight agency.
“I am deeply saddened and concerned by these tragic incidents, particularly at this time of year, and I offer my deepest condolences to the victims’ families and loved ones,” Surrey Mayor Brenda Locke said in a statement. She said she has spoken with the police chief but would not comment further.
