Surrey has upgraded more than 600 traffic cameras and expanded police access to them as the city responds to a sustained wave of extortion-related shootings and violent incidents.
Mayor Brenda Locke says the city is using every tool within its authority to support investigations and improve public safety as extortions continue to impact neighbourhoods across Surrey.
Surrey Police Service (SPS) officials say access to the city’s traffic camera system became more limited when the service replaced the RCMP as police of jurisdiction in late 2024. During the transition, police were required to submit requests for footage through city staff, a process that could take hours or longer outside of regular business hours.
Staff Sgt. Lindsey Houghton said the delays were particularly challenging during urgent investigations, when timely access to footage can be critical.
“Requests had to go through city employees who would access and send footage to police,” Houghton said. “That created delays, especially after hours.”
Expanded access restored
In recent weeks, police access has been expanded. As of Dec. 31, 2025, select staff working in 911 dispatch were granted direct access to live camera feeds during urgent incidents outside business hours. Additional personnel have since been authorized.
Houghton said the level of access now mirrors what RCMP officers previously had, with the same footage also available to fire services and city engineering staff.
While the video feeds carry a brief delay of a few seconds, police say the cameras can assist with active investigations. Officers can use them to track a suspect’s movements, identify a vehicle’s direction of travel, or determine where to deploy resources. Footage can also help emergency responders reach serious collision scenes more efficiently.
Police say most requests still involve archived footage, which can provide valuable evidence, such as confirming whether a vehicle passed through a specific intersection or route.
City cites privacy legislation
Surrey City Manager Rob Costanzo said the access changes were driven by provincial privacy laws, not a decision to restrict police oversight.
When SPS took over policing duties, civilian staff who previously supported RCMP operations became police employees and were no longer permitted to access the city-owned camera system, Costanzo said. City employees are the only staff authorized to retrieve footage under provincial rules.
He added that police continued to receive footage through requests, as had occurred under the RCMP model. City records show SPS made about 1,400 footage requests in 2025, with most submitted within a day of the incident.
An interim after-hours process was introduced last summer through fire dispatch, allowing police to obtain footage during evenings and weekends. That system remained in place until the city hired and trained dedicated staff to support camera access at SPS headquarters, a model police formally adopted at the start of 2026.
Debate over expanded monitoring
Surrey Coun. Linda Annis, who is running for mayor, has called for broader police involvement in traffic camera monitoring, including a 24-hour surveillance team and additional cameras throughout the city.
The proposal has raised concerns among privacy advocates. Tamir Israel of the Canadian Civil Liberties Association said expanded access must remain tightly controlled.
“Police do have access, but it’s on a case-by-case basis with justification,” Israel said. “Expanding that further increases the risk of misuse.”
Extortion violence continues
Extortion-related violence has affected the Lower Mainland for several years, with threats increasingly escalating into shootings.
Surrey Police say 16 extortion cases have been reported so far in 2026, three of which involved gunfire. Twelve people have been targeted, most of whom had previously received extortion threats.
Recent incidents include repeated shots fired at a home in Cloverdale, a shooting at a restaurant in Newton, and gunfire targeting a home and vehicle in Panorama Ridge. No injuries were reported in those cases.
Delta police are also investigating multiple extortion cases, including several involving shootings, though no injuries have been reported there either.
Law enforcement agencies have established multiple task forces to address the issue, including local units in Surrey and Abbotsford, as well as provincial and national RCMP teams.
Premier David Eby, speaking during a trade trip to India, said police resources in Surrey are at historic levels but acknowledged frustration over the pace of arrests.
“We need better results,” Eby said. “We need to see more arrests.”
Only a small number of extortion charges were laid in B.C. last year, with some suspects deported, according to federal authorities.
As investigations continue, city officials say expanded camera access is one part of a broader effort to curb violence and reassure residents concerned about safety in their communities.
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