The Vancouver Police Department is the police force in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. It is one of several police departments within the Metro Vancouver Area and is the second largest police force in the province after RCMP "E" Division.
VPD was the first Canadian municipal police force to hire a female officer and the first to start a marine squad.
VPD, along with twelve other BC municipal police forces, seconds officers to the Combined Forces Special Enforcement Unit – British Columbia.
VPD now occupies the former Vancouver Organizing Committee for the 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games (VANOC) building at 3585 Graveley Street, which houses administrative and specialized investigation units.
History At the first meeting of Vancouver City Council, Vancouver's first police officer, Chief Constable John Stewart, was appointed on May 10, 1886.
On June 14, 1886, the morning after the Great Fire of 1886, Mayor McLean appointed Jackson Abray, V.W. Haywood, and John McLaren as special constables. With uniforms from Seattle and badges fashioned from American coins, this four man team became Vancouver's first police department based out of the City Hall tent at the foot of Carrall Street. These four were replaced in 1887 by special constables sent by the provincial government in Victoria for not keeping the peace during the anti-Asian unrest of that year. The strength of the force increased from four to fourteen as a result.
By 1904, the department had grown to 31 members and occupied a new police building at 200 Cordova Street. In 1912, Vancouver's first two women were taken on the force as matrons. With the amalgamation of Point Grey and South Vancouver with Vancouver in 1929, the department absorbed the two smaller police forces under the direction of Chief Constable W.J. Bingham, a former district supervisor with the Metropolitan Police in London. By the 1940s the department had grown to 570 members.
In 1912, L.D. Harris and Minnie Miller were hired as the first two policewomen in Canada.
In 1917, Chief Constable McLennan was killed in the line of duty in a shoot-out in Vancouver's East End. Responding to a call by a landlord attempting to evict a tenant, the police were met by gunfire. Along with McLennan, the shooter was killed in the battle, as was a nine-year-old boy in the vicinity at Georgia and Jackson streets, which is now marked by a mosaic memorial. A detective who lost an eye in the shootout, John Cameron, later became the chief constable of the New Westminster Police Department before taking the top job of the Vancouver force, which he occupied from 1933 to the end of 1934.
Another member of the force was killed in the line of duty in 1922. Twenty-three-year-old constable, Robert McBeath, was shot by a man stopped for impaired driving. McBeath had received the Victoria Cross for "most conspicuous bravery" at the Battle of Cambrai in France in the First World War. McBeath's killer, Fred Deal, was initially sentenced to death, but won an appeal reducing it to life in prison because he had been beaten while in custody. The marine squad's boat, the R.G. McBeath VC, was commissioned in 1995 and named in honour of McBeath.
Plans for a new police building at 312 Main Street began in 1953. The Oakridge police station opened in 1961.
A police memorial at 325 Main St. is dedicated to the Vancouver Police Department members who died in the First and Second world wars and lists the Vancouver Police Department members killed in the line of duty in Vancouver.
In 1935, under Chief Constable W. W. Foster, the Vancouver Police Department was complemented with hundreds of special constables because of a waterfront strike led by communists, which culminated in the Battle of Ballantyne Pier, a riot that broke out when demonstrators attempted to march to the docks to confront strikebreakers. Also that year, nearly 2,000 unemployed men from the federal relief camps scattered throughout the province flocked to Vancouver to protest camp conditions. After two months of incessant demonstrations, the camp strikers left Vancouver and began the On-to-Ottawa Trek.
The Vancouver Police were at the centre of one of the biggest scandals in the city's history in 1955. Feeling frustrated that blatant police corruption was being ignored by the local media, a reporter for the Vancouver Daily Province switched to a Toronto-based tabloid, Flash. He wrote a sensational article alleging corruption at the highest levels of the police department in Vancouver, specifically, that a pay-off system had been implemented whereby gambling operations that paid the police were left alone and those that did not were harassed. After the Flash article appeared in Vancouver, the allegations could no longer be ignored, and a Royal Commission, the Tupper Commission, was struck to hold a public inquiry. Chief Constable Walter Mulligan fled to the United States, another officer from the upper ranks committed suicide, and still another attempted suicide rather than face the inquiry. Other scandals and public inquiries plagued the force before and since this one, dubbed the "Mulligan Affair", but none were so dramatic. An earlier inquiry into corruption in 1928 was ambiguous in its conclusions as to the extent of the problem. The last major inquiry into policing in Vancouver focused largely on police accountability. Judge Wally Oppal (later provincial attorney general), submitted the results of his report in 1994 in a four volume package entitled Closing the Gap: Policing and the Community.Wally Oppal (1994). Closing the Gap: Policing and the Community.
Leonard Hogue, a constable in the police department, was the perpetrator in the 1965 Coquitlam Massacre.
In 2009, the RCMP "E" Division joined forces with VPD to operate the Integrated National Security Enforcement Team (INSET)—Vancouver, operating out of VPD facilities instead of the INSET-BC Surrey operation base.
Community policing centres
Organization Community policing centres (CPCs), except the Granville Downtown and Kitsilano Fairview CPCs, are run by registered societies. The Granville Downtown CPC is under the direct control of the District 1 commander whereas Kitsilano Fairview is under the District 4 commander.
Salary As of 2026, VPD constable pay ranges from 93,390 (probationary to $133,847 (first-class, after four years of service) with senior constable to reach up to 115% of the first-class rate through professional development, the department also offers substantial overtime opportunities.
Operation CPCs are run by volunteers on a day-to-day basis with the supervision from paid staffs. Each year, the VPD audits all the CPCs and then reports to the city council on budgeting.
Each CPC is assigned a neighbourhood police officer (NPO) who provides resources and guidance for the operation of the CPC.
Programs Each CPC offers different programs based on budget and neighbourhood needs. For example:
Taking non-emergency/lost and found property reports Project Griffin Working in conjunction with the Insurance Corporation of British Columbia for the Speed Watch ProgramSpeed Watch. ICBC. Retrieved on 2014-04-12. Working in conjunction with the Insurance Corporation of British Columbia for the Stolen Auto Recovery ProgramStolen Auto Recovery Program. ICBC. Retrieved on 2014-04-12. Working in conjunction with the VPD for the Block Watch Program Community patrol (foot and bike) Bike Roadeo, program for young children in bike safety Outreach and education programs Engraving Community cleanup Child FindChildFindBC.com. ChildFindBC.com (October 4, 2011). Retrieved on 2014-04-12. Citizen's Crime Watch
However, CPCs do not offer any of the following services:
Taking emergency report Criminal record checks Law/bylaw enforcement Legal/policing advice Victim services Situations that requires police attendance/assistance
Departmental organization Overseen by the Police Board, the 1,716 employees of the VPD have been led by Chief Constable Steve Rai since May 22, 2025, following the departure of Adam Palmer, who retired in order to join the Royal Canadian Mounted Police. The force has seven operating divisions assigned to the Chief Constable:
Operations Division
Led by Deputy Chief Constable Alison Laurin since 2025.
Operations Command
District 1 District 2 District 3 District 4 Diversity, Community, & Indigenous Relations
Operations Support Command
Operations Support Section Duty Officers Court & Detention Services Section Traffic Section Emergency Response Section
Emergency Management & Major Events Command
Emergency & Operational Planning Section 2026 FIFA World Cup Issue
Investigation Division
Led by Senior Deputy Chief Constable Howard Chow since 2025.
Investigative Services
Major Crime Section Organized Crime Section Special Investigation Section
Investigative Support Services
Tactical Support Section Forensic Services Section General Investigation Section Youth Services Section Body Worn Camera Section
Executive Services
Led by Inspector Kevin Bernardin.
Public Affairs Led by Inspector Shaun Deans.
Support Services Division
Led by Deputy Chief Constable Andrew Chan since 2025.
Planning, Research & Audit Section
Discipline Authority Services
Personnel Services Led by Superintendent Shelley Horne. Human Resources Section Training & Recruiting Section Professional Standards Section Labour & Employee Relations Services
Information Services Led by Superintendent Tyrone Sideroff. Information & Communication Technology Section Information Management Section Fleet Operations Section Facilities Section Property & Forensic Storage Section Information & Privacy Section Enterprise Risk Management Section
Force Options Training Section
Financial Services Led by Chief Financial Officer Nancy Eng.
Strategy & Innovation Division Led by Deputy Chief Constable Don Chapman since 2025.
Union The Vancouver Police Union is a trade union that represents 1,450 front-line police officers, jail guards and special constables of the Vancouver Police Department.
Rank structure Chief constableDeputy chief constableSuperintendentInspectorStaff sergeantSergeantPolice constable 1st class/DetectivePolice constable 2nd classPolice constable 3rd classPolice constable 4th class Special municipal constable (traffic authority/jail guard/community safety personnel)
List of chief constables +NumberNameTenure1John Stewart1886–18902John McLaren1890–18953William Ward1895–18964John Stewart1896–19015Samuel North1901-19066Colin Chisholm1906–19077Rufus Chamberlin1907–19128Charles Mulhern1913–19149Malcolm MacLennan1914–191710William McRae1917–192011James Anderson1920–192412Henry "Harry" Long1924–192913William Bingham1929–193114Charles Edgar Edgett1931–193315John Cameron1933–193516William Foster1935–194117Donald MacKay1941–194518Alexander McNeill1945–194719Walter Mulligan1947–195520George Archer1955–196221Ralph Booth1962–196822John Fisk1968–197423Don Winterton1974–198124Robert Stewart1981–199125William Marshall1991–199426Raymond Canuel1994–199727Bruce Chambers1997–199928Terry Blythe1999–200229Jamie Graham2002–200730Jim Chu2007–201531Adam Palmer2015–202532Steve Rai2025–present
Controversies
Battle of Ballantyne Pier