REPORT: Ken Sim’s Task Force Barrage Under Fire
(Image courtesy of CBC)
An anonymous letter sent by a Vancouver Police Department (VPD) whistleblower claims that the “Task Force Barrage,” assembled in February by Mayor Ken Sim, is a "politically motivated crackdown," and those in charge have been "setting quotas." This letter was contained in an email sent to the Office of the Police Complaint Commissioner (OPCC) on March 8 and was only publicly revealed this week.
VPD Spokesperson Sgt. Steve Addison has denied the validity of these claims, stating that the police organization can’t verify the identity of the person who sent the claim and believes that it is not an “accurate representation.” The letter with redacted parts was presented during a Police Board on Thursday, April 24.
Notable statements from the letter include that the task force’s crackdowns are “entirely motivated by politics” and that a management email was sent with expectations that the squads working in the Downtown Eastside “would arrest [REDACTED] on drug charges.”
The OPCC now claims that legally, the board needs to launch an investigation, have Chief Adam Palmer initiate an investigation himself, or dismiss the complaint with valid and acceptable reasons.
Task Force Barrage
(Image courtesy of the CBC)
In only a month, Task Force Barrage has been successful in the VPD management’s eyes, with their own report stating that they had seized almost 200 weapons and executed 153 arrest warrants. They also claimed that the average of violent assaults decreased from four to three per day and that assaults with weapons dropped by 30 percent.
When Mayor Sim and Chief Palmer jointly announced the project in February, an additional $5 million in funding was announced for Task Force Barrage, without a defined end date on when the force would need to suspend operations or receive an evaluation. It was formed specifically for the purpose of monitoring the Downtown Eastside, which is known for its high rate of opioid drug use.
Deficit Issues
(Image courtesy of the CBC)
At the same Police Board Agenda meeting, it was announced that the VPD will run a $6.9 million budget deficit, with the majority of it coming from the aforementioned $5 million given to Task Force Barrage. All of this is sourced from the City of Vancouver's public funds.
Mayor Sim and the ABC party promised to expand on the city’s emergency services, as seen in their 2022 election campaign platform. The VPD budget deficit also comes at the same time as news about BC’s provincial credit rating being downgraded, with an overall deficit imbalance of $10.9 billion being cited as the reason.
