Policing in Vancouver
Guest: Chief Constable Adam Palmer, Vancouver Police
On this edition of Journal, we take a look at the dramatic changes we have seen in policing in the last few decades through the eyes of retiring Chief Constable of the Vancouver Police Department, Adam Palmer.
1987 was the year Adam joined the VPD, becoming Chief Constable in 2015. He leaves as the longest serving Chief in the department’s history. Just imagine how the streets have changed over those four decades.
In ’87, Vancouver was coming off the high of Expo ’86. There was a feeling of pride in our step; after all, we invited the world to our beautiful city. Of course there was a darker crime story as well, but not like today. Now, we are experiencing new and seemingly intractable and overlapping problems. Despite recent data indicating violent crime is actually declining, that’s not how it feels. We have an area of Vancouver that is almost a no-go zone, with homelessness exacerbated by drug addiction and mental illness.
How has our police department had to adapt to these challenges? How has their mandate expanded? What should we be thinking about from a public policy point of view going forward?
Sir Robert Peel, thought to be the father of modern policing, believed in the principle that “we don’t police the community, we police WITH the community”. That has been a hallmark of Adam Palmer’s time as Chief Constable.
At his retirement announcement he said, “This career is full of ups and downs, various crises, challenges, laughter and tears, but it’s also incredibly rewarding and I would do it all over again, in a heartbeat, without thinking twice.”
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