British Columbia’s police watchdog says the Vancouver Police Board must look into an officer’s allegation that arrest quotas have been issued as part of Mayor Ken Sim’s “Task Force Barrage” initiative in the Downtown Eastside.
An email from the anonymous whistleblower is on the agenda for Thursday’s meeting of the board, along with a corresponding letter from the Office of the Police Complaints Commissioner asking the board to take action.
The complaints commissioner says it received a complaint from the VPD member on March 8, calling Task Force Barrage a “politically motivated crackdown” and saying those in charge have been “setting quotas.”
The police watchdog says that legally, the board must now initiate an investigation or a study, ask Chief Adam Palmer to launch an investigation, or dismiss the complaint with reasons.
Vancouver’s mayor and police Chief Adam Palmer jointly announced on Thursday a long-term operation to dismantle organized drug crime and target predatory criminals in Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside. As CBC’s Chad Pawson reports, it’s part of Ken Sim’s vision for the future of the DTES.
The Vancouver Police Department did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the allegations.
Sim launched Task Force Barrage in February, promising a long-term operation “to dismantle organized crime networks and target predatory criminals in the Downtown Eastside and beyond.”
An update last month said weapons seizures increased 258 per cent in the Downtown Eastside in the first four weeks of the task force and that police seized 197 weapons and made 204 Criminal Code arrests, an average of about seven per day.
The email from the whistleblower says they were taught that officers had discretion to decide whether to charge people.
“But now it’s clear they don’t value their officers’ discretion and decision-making, and [they’re] setting quotas. I don’t think this is legal or right,” the email says.
