Police agencies deny jurisdictional fight delayed Hardeep Nijjar murder investigation
CTV
Law enforcement agencies have denied allegations that a dispute over jurisdiction delayed the investigation into the murder of Surrey, B.C., Sikh leader Hardeep Singh Nijjar.
Law enforcement agencies have denied allegations that a dispute over jurisdiction delayed the investigation into the murder of Surrey, B.C., Sikh leader Hardeep Singh Nijjar.
The claims were published the week in The Washington Post, which quoted a witness who described an "hours-long tussle" between the Surrey RCMP and Surrey Police Service at the scene of Nijjar's killing earlier this year.
The two departments have been operating in tandem – sometimes separately, sometimes co-operatively – for two years, since Surrey's previous city council began the slow process of replacing the local RCMP detachment with a new municipal police force.
On Tuesday, Surrey RCMP issued a statement to address what the detachment described as "misinformation surrounding the actions of our officers."
"It was suggested that there was a conflict regarding which police agency would 'head the investigation,' however as the police of jurisdiction, Surrey RCMP is responsible for all police investigations in Surrey," the statement said. "There is nothing to indicate this investigation was delayed in any way, either in the initial response or in subsequent investigative steps."
Contacted for comment Wednesday, a spokesperson for the Surrey Police Service said the force "concurs with the Surrey RCMP," calling the suggestion of a jurisdictional dispute "completely false."
"At this point of the policing transition in Surrey, Surrey RCMP is the current police of jurisdiction with operational control," Ian MacDonald told CTV News in an email.
