Police

Police


VPD whistleblower alleges arrest quotas in Downtown Eastside crackdown

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, British Columbia’s police watchdog says. An email from the anonymous whistleblower is on the agenda for Thursday’s meeting of the board along with a corresponding […]

Read More


Seattle officers who attended Jan. 6 rally ask US Supreme Court to keep their identities anonymous

SEATTLE (AP) — Current and former Seattle police officers who attended President Donald Trump’s “Stop the Steal” political rally on Jan. 6, 2021 at the U.S. Capitol are asking the nation’s highest court to keep their identities anonymous in public court records. Using “John Doe” pseudonyms, they sued over whether the investigation into their activities […]

Read More


Canadian police partner with AI in arms race against criminals. But at what cost?

In one corner of the battle are criminals using artificial intelligence to generate child sexual abuse material — and in the other, AI is being used to help hunt down the offenders. The rise of artificial intelligence has kicked off an arms race between perpetrators and police in Canada. The RCMP’s National Child Exploitation Coordination […]

Read More


‘Fascinating’ look at Kingston Police records and systems

A small city with big city problems provides much work for its police service, some of which goes largely unseen by the public. John Bougie, Manager of Records and Systems with Kingston Police, gave an overview of his unit to the Kingston Police Service Board at its latest meeting on Thursday, Mar. 20, 2025. His […]

Read More


Saint John police reviewing report on wrongful conviction of two N.B. men

An external review of police conduct around the wrongful murder convictions of two New Brunswick men has been completed, but the civilian board that oversees the Saint John, N.B., police force says privacy concerns need to be addressed before it can me made public. Tamara Kelly, chairwoman of the city’s Board of Police Commissioners, acknowledged […]

Read More


Toronto police chats undermined testimony. But it was whistleblower who got fired

Former Toronto Police Service officer Firouzeh Zarabi-Majd said she found out about the unofficial 51 Division group chat “accidentally” after being told about it by a colleague.  What she saw included a message “talking about my vagina,” she said, among other disturbing conversations. Zarabi-Majd would go on to be fired for insubordination after posting the […]

Read More


Feb. 14 coverage advisory about a Canadian Press investigation

The Canadian Press has published an investigation by reporter Darryl Greer into unofficial police chat groups and how they blur and breach ethical lines. The main story is accompanied by two sidebars. If you have questions, please contact B.C. and Yukon Bureau Chief Ian Young at ian.young@thecanadianpress.com. — ‘Amongst the trusted’: How private police chat […]

Read More


‘Amongst the trusted’: How private police chat groups blur and breach ethical lines

In August 2021, a Toronto drug case took a dramatic turn when a prosecutor made what the judge called a “highly unusual” request, asking the court to throw out evidence by a key police witness. It came after defence lawyers had grilled Toronto Police Service Const. Ryan Kotzer over “disparaging comments about black people” in […]

Read More


B.C. police cite privacy as investigators probe chat groups

The details of a private chat group among current and former members of the police department in Nelson, B.C., haven’t been made public. But the fate of an investigation by the province’s Police Complaint Commissioner into the WhatsApp chats could have implications for police across the country, as the Nelson officers mount a court challenge […]

Read More


Police seek suspect in alleged Canada-wide romance scam that cost victims $275k

Police in Ontario say they are looking for a man who is alleged to have swindled nearly a dozen victims across Canada in a romance scam. Peel Regional Police say 11 victims from Ontario, Quebec, Alberta and Saskatchewan lost a total of $275,000 in the alleged scam. Investigators say that between June 2020 and September […]

Read More


OPP investigating after Kingston police hit by ‘cyber incident’

A police department in southern Ontario is dealing with a “cyber incident” that it says has affected some of its IT systems. Police in Kingston say a network issue was discovered on Friday and their non-emergency functions may be experiencing delays. Ontario Provincial Police say the Kingston department’s ability to respond to emergency calls was […]

Read More


RCMP informant’s decades of spying on social reformers are chronicled in new book

As a Communist Party member in Calgary in the early 1940s, Frank Hadesbeck performed clerical work at the party office, printed leaflets and sold books. But he also had tasks his party comrades could know nothing about: snooping on mail, copying phone numbers from scratch pads and rummaging through waste baskets. Hadesbeck, known to his […]

Read More