Ex-B.C. Lions take pride in joining new team as Surrey Police Service officers

B.C. Lions alumni Jas Dhillon and Matt Clarke work opposite shifts, but the former football players are teammates again as members of Surrey’s municipal police force.

“It’s a point of pride to be in Surrey,” said Dhillon, an offensive lineman who played for the Lions in 2016 and 2017 before becoming a police officer. “It felt like coming home.”

The two officers spoke to Postmedia recently about their reasons for joining Surrey Police Service and some of the uncertainty facing the department.

The Lions have strong ties to the Surrey community, with their practice facility in Whalley.

For both Dhillon and Clarke, a linebacker who played for the Canadian Football League club from 1991 to 1995, joining SPS felt like a way to give back to a community that had an impact on them.