Current Problems: Justice (25-42)

Exploring Stakeholder: "Vancouver Police Dept."

Updates on this page: 13
 

August 15, 2023


The VPD Won’t Release a Review of Its Chelsea Poorman Investigation

Police say it could affect their ongoing file on the Cree woman’s disappearance. But her family wants answers. The Tyee: Vancouver police are refusing to release an external RCMP review that examined how the force investigated the disappearance and death of Chelsea Poorman, saying that making the report public could compromise their ongoing investigation. Police...

April 8, 2023


Vancouver Police announces official changes to handcuffing policy

Change follows Police Act complaint after wrongful handcuffing of retired judge Selwyn Romilly in 2021 CBC News: The Vancouver Police Department announced that it has officially updated its handcuffing policy, requiring officers to take into account a person’s age, ethnicity, and the seriousness of an alleged incident prior to applying handcuffs.  The announcement follows interim changes to...

February 28, 2023


Families Charge ‘Police Neglect’ over Missing Person Investigations

The families of Chelsea Poorman, Noelle O’Soup and Tatyanna Harrison rallied at a Vancouver police station to call for change. The Tyee: The families of Noelle O’Soup, Tatyanna Harrison and Chelsea Poorman called out the Vancouver Police Department for its handling of the cases at a rally on Monday, saying they no longer trust police...

September 28, 2022


Heiltsuk Grandfather and Granddaughter Reach Ground-Breaking Agreement with Vancouver Police Board to Settle Human Rights Complaints

Agreement includes damages, a significant community investment, and a two-year collaborative policy-making process to fight systemic racism, with progress to be reviewed and reported on publicly by the BC Human Rights Commissioner. NationTalk: VANCOUVER, BRITISH COLUMBIA (Sept 28, 2022) – Heiltsuk First Nation members Maxwell Johnson and his granddaughter, have reached a ground-breaking agreement with the...

April 6, 2022


Wrongful Detainment: VPD officers commit professional misconduct

Heiltsuk Nation: Vancouver – Retired judge Brian Neal, Q.C., has decided VPD officers committed professional misconduct by recklessly arresting and handcuffing Maxwell Johnson and his 12-year-old granddaughter on December 20, 2019, while the two were trying to open a bank account for her at the Bank of Montreal. He found that the granddaughter and grandfather presented...

October 21, 2021


Wrongful Detainment: Heiltsuk Nation members

Heiltsuk Nation – The Heiltsuk Nation and Maxwell Johnson are disappointed by the secret and exclusionary process that the Vancouver Police Board and VPD have carried out to consider a new handcuffing policy. This type of colonial top-down decision making does not support reconciliation. “Neither the nation nor the complainants were: advised that the board...

August 12, 2021


Wrongful Detainment: Maxwell Johnson and his granddaughter

Union of BC Indian Chiefs – The BC Human Rights Tribunal (BCHRT) decision to allow the Union of BC Indian Chiefs (UBCIC) and their counsel, Dr. Mary Ellen Turpel-Lafond, to intervene in an ongoing BC human rights complaint against the VPD for the racial profiling and wrongful detainment of Maxwell Johnson and his granddaughter outside...

June 16, 2021


Wrongful Detainment: Dr. Mary Ellen Turpel-Lafond appointed by UBCIC

Union of BC Indian Chiefs – and Heiltsuk Nation announced today that Dr. Mary Ellen Turpel-Lafond, former judge and Senior Associate Counsel with Woodward & Company, will be applying to intervene on behalf of UBCIC in an ongoing BC human rights case against the VPD for the wrongful detainment of Maxwell Johnson and his granddaughter,...

January 28, 2021


Trespass Prevention Program

NationTalk – A coalition of Indigenous, women, Downtown Eastside, and legal organizations are voicing their opposition to the Vancouver Police Department’s Trespass Prevention Program, which authorizes police officers to remove people without a call for 911 service if they have allegedly violated the provincial Trespass Act. States Chief Don Tom, Vice President of the Union...

December 17, 2020


Police Street Checks: Review of VPB commissioned street check study

Former BC Information and Privacy Commissioner will conduct a review of the Vancouver Police Board-commissioned street check” study that kept allegations from being publicized of officers making racist and inappropriate comments about vulnerable and marginalized people...

September 7, 2020


Police Street Checks: Call for complete ban

BCCLA, UBCIC, Black Lives Matter – Vancouver, Hogan’s Alley Society and Wish Drop-in Centre Society – have written a letter and petition to the Mayor Kennedy Stewart and premier John Horgan, co-signed by 87 other organizations and another 8,265 individuals calling for an immediate ban on police street checks: https://act.bccla.org/banstreetchecks On July 30, 2020, Commissioner...

June 25, 2020


Police Street Checks: questions about Pyxix-authored VPB Street Check Review

BCCLA and UBCIC have released a letter to the Vancouver Police Board calling into question the objectivity, methodology, and findings of the Pyxis-authored Vancouver Police Board Street Check Review, and requesting the disclosure of any and all draft reviews, field notes, or ancillary materials from Pyxis. They identified a discrepancy between the final report as...

June 10, 2020


Police Street Checks

June 10, 2020: The BC Civil Liberties Association, Union of BC Indian Chiefs, and Hogan’s Alley Society – are calling on Vancouver Mayor Kennedy Stewart, who is also the Vancouver Police Board Chair and Board Spokesperson, to immediately put a stop to police street checks in Vancouver. A recent review of VPD street checks provided clear...