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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 letter from the Office of the Police Complaint Commissioner asking the board to take action.
The letter from the commissioner says it received a complaint from an officer on March 8, calling Task Force Barrage a politically motivated crackdown and saying those in charge have been “setting quotas.”
Much of the email from the whistleblower was redacted but one sentence reads that they were taught that officers could 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,” it says.
A statement from police spokesperson Sgt. Steve Addison does not directly answer whether quotas are being used, but says the police are “unapologetic” about the work they are doing in the Downtown Eastside and the “results of Task Force Barrage speak for themselves.”
Addison said since the start of the task force in February, police have made 314 warrant arrests up to April 15, and violent crimes are down 17 per cent in the first three months of 2025, compared with the same period last year.
“We understand these results, and the support we’re receiving throughout the Downtown Eastside, may be upsetting to police critics, defunders and people who are ideologically opposed to the work we do,” he said.
The police watchdog says that legally the board must now initiate an investigation or a study, ask Chief Adam Palmer to launch an investigation, dismiss the complaint with reasons, or take “any other course of action” to adequately respond.
The letter from the commissioner says the whistleblower also made an allegation against a specific officer but that claim didn’t meet the threshold to be admissible.
Sim launched the task force promising a long-term operation “to dismantle organized crime networks and target predatory criminals in the Downtown Eastside and beyond.”
Addison said police are “are absolutely committed to staying the course.”
Vancouver Coun. Sean Orr, who won a recent byelection, said in a statement that Sim must show integrity and “keep police out of politics, and politics out of policing.”
“This officer showed integrity by reaching out to the OPCC with their concerns about the political misuse of Vancouver’s police department,” Orr said.
“Police officers should not be pawns for political campaigns, and whistleblowers like this should be protected against retaliation by their bosses.”
This report by The Canadian Press was first published April 23, 2025.
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