Article content continued

Satish Kumar, the president of Laxmi Narayan Temple and one of the signatories to the letter, said he believed a municipal police department would have more local control over decisions like the numbers of officers put on patrol. He also figured a local force could more easily build connections to the South Asian community.

Of the roughly $235,000 in campaign contributions McCallum’s Safe Surrey Coalition brought in 2018, nearly $170,000 came from donors with South Asian names. The switch to a municipal police force was one of the party’s three main campaign pillars.

Jonathan Ross, a spokesman for the group of religious leaders, said the leaders did not have specific studies they could point to that supported their perspective on which type of police force would be better, and they were not claiming to be academics. “This is kind of an outcry in the community” and congregations are speaking about it, he said.

It is rare for the seven to agree on an issue like this one, Ross said.

“There are distinct viewpoints in congregations and just like any other religious community there are multiple points of view. So for this kind of a letter, for all six of these large Gurdwaras in Surrey and (one Hindu Mandir) to sign on to it is unprecedented. You don’t see that often.”

The letter was signed by Kumar and:

• Moninder Singh, president, Gurdwara Sahib Dasmesh Darbar

• Hardeep Singh Nijjar, president, Guru Nanak Sikh Gurdwara

• Balvinder Singh, president, Gurdwara Amrit Parkash

• Amarjit S. Sangha, president, Darbar Sri Guru Granth Sahib Ji

• Narinder S. Walia, president, Gurdwara Dukh Nivaran Sahib

• Paramjeet Singh, president, Gurudwara Guru Teg Bahadur Sahib

McCallum has promised to bring in a local police force to replace the current RCMP model in response to continuing violence and organized gang activity in Surrey.

Earlier this month, a report released by the city projected one-time capital and transition costs of $39.2 million for things such as recruitment, administration, new equipment and vehicle repainting amortized over four years, or roughly $10 million a year. The estimated operating budget would be $192.5 million, up 10.9 per cent from the city’s projected annual policing cost for the RCMP.

Critics, however, have sparred over the report’s suggested figures on how many RCMP officers currently staff the city and how many officers would be brought in under a new police force. Others have criticized the report’s lack of specifics and clarification.

mrobinson@postmedia.com

sip@postmedia.com