The Vancouver Police Board has been ordered to respond to a complaint alleging officers patrolling the Downtown Eastside are being told to meet quotas for drug arrests in a crackdown “motivated by politics.”
The complaint, purportedly from an anonymous officer with the Vancouver Police Department, was forwarded to the board by the watchdog for municipal forces in B.C.
“On March 8, 2025, the Office of the Police Complaint Commissioner received a complaint from an anonymous VPD member outlining their concerns related to the Vancouver Police Department’s recent expectation of setting arrest quotas in relation to drug enforcement in the Downtown Eastside. The complainant does not think this is legal or right,” the letter from OPCC Executive Director Anthony Parker said, adding that the board is required to take action “promptly.”
The letter from the OPCC – along with a heavily redacted copy of the complaint – were published online as part of the meeting package for Thursday’s board meeting, along with the recommendation that “the chief constable to investigate and report back” at the June 19 meeting.
The complaint concerns “Task Force Barrage” which significantly increased the police presence on the Downtown Eastside. The goal of the task force, police have said, is to target organized crime, repeat violent offenders, and street disorder.
Chief Const. Adam Palmer, who announced the task force at a news conference with the mayor, did indicate that drug possession arrests and drug seizures would be a focus, but maintained that residents and drug users would not be targeted.
“Our priority is, and always will be, to focus on the violent criminals and drug traffickers, who commit crime and victimize other people in the community,” he said.
The complaint alleges the task force has “nothing to do with serving the community and public safety” and alleges that officers have been told to meet “arbitrary quotas” for drug arrests.
“I was always taught I had discretion and I should charge people when it made sense, but now it’s clear they don’t value their officers’ discretion and decision making and their (sic) setting quotas. I don’t think this is legal or right,” the complaint said.
VPD spokesperson Sgt. Steve Addison told CTV News the department is “absolutely unapologetic” for the work of the task force and questioned whether the person who made the complaint is actually an officer.
In terms of arrests, Addison said the department has arrested more than 300 people since February and is submitting an average of three reports to Crown counsel recommending charges per day. There are, he said, no quotas.
“Our officers have discretion when they’re doing their work. We do expect that they will make arrests, and the arrests that we’re making are targeted arrests that are having a significant positive impact on the community,” he said.
Addison – like the complainant but ostensibly for different reasons – used the word “political” to describe policing on the Downtown Eastside.
“We understand there are a lot of people – cop critics, police defunders, people who are ideologically opposed to the work that we do – who aren’t happy with the fact that we’re there and the fact that we’re having success,” he said.
Sean Orr, a Vancouver city councillor who got the most votes of any candidate in a recent byelection, is someone has been a vocal critic of the VPD and the Mayor Ken Sim.
He issued a statement after the complaint was published, commending the complainant.
“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.”
Orr also characterized Task Force Barrage as an operation that is “stoking fear in the population and scapegoating marginalized communities for political gain.”
