The Vancouver Police Department is projecting it will be over budget by $6.9 million by year’s end, with $5 million of the deficit associated with the Task Force Barrage strategy to dismantle organized crime networks and target criminals in the Downtown Eastside.
When Mayor Ken Sim and Police Chief Adam Palmer announced the project in February, the mayor said it would cost $5 million but he did not indicate the increase in funds would mean the VPD would be over budget in 2025.
Now it appears the city is expected to pick up the tab before the end of the year, which further increases the amount of money already dedicated to the VPD, according to a report that goes before the Vancouver Police Board Thursday.
At the news conference in February, reporters did not get an answer on how “long term” the task force will operate, or how long the $5 million will last. But Palmer said at the time that the money “will get us a long way.”
“We're going to assess as we go, and we're going to keep up that sustained pressure,” Palmer said. “And if it requires more funding, then we'll talk to council, and we'll work through it.”
Officer files complaint
Meanwhile, a VPD officer filed an anonymous complaint March 8 with the Office of the Police Complaint Commissioner saying they were “disgusted by the political [sic] motivated crack down that has been launched by the VPD.”
“This is entirely motivated by politics,” the officer wrote in the complaint, which is included in Thursday’s police board agenda package. “It has nothing to do with serving the community and public safety, which are why I became a police officer. It is sad that I can’t raise my concerns inside of the VPD.”
The written complaint is heavily redacted but the officer alleges drug arrest quotas were set by VPD management. The officer wrote: “I don’t think this is legal or right,” and says they were taught to have discretion and charge people “when it made sense.”
“But now it’s clear they don’t value their officer’s discretion and decision making and their [sic] setting quotas,” the officer said.
The police board’s service or policy complaints review subcommittee has requested the department investigate the officer’s allegations. A report back on the findings is expected at the board’s June 19 public meeting.
Violent crimes decrease
Since Task Force Barrage was announced, police said in a news release in March that street-level assaults and other violent crimes had decreased in the Downtown Eastside.
The department has deployed additional front-line officers to the area, while simultaneously launching co-ordinated investigations to target drug traffickers and organized criminals.
“Deploying more officers to the areas most impacted by violence and crime has allowed us to take a more proactive approach in reducing crime, while putting us in a position to make arrests when crimes do occur,” said Insp. Gary Hiar, commanding officer of policing District Two, which includes the Downtown Eastside.
During the first four weeks of the initiative, VPD officers:
• responded to 4,760 calls for service in the Downtown Eastside, for an average of 170 calls a day.
• seized 197 weapons, including guns, Tasers, prohibited knives and makeshift weapons.
• executed 153 arrest warrants.
• made 204 total Criminal Code arrests for an average of seven per day.
VPD budget $425.9 million
The VPD’s net operating budget for 2025 is $425,947,189, which is an increase of $14,639,956, or 3.6 per cent from the 2024 restated budget. For the first quarter ending March 31, the VPD is already over budget by 3.7 per cent, or $3,868,735.
The report going before the police board said additional pressures causing increased costs include backfilling vacancies due to retirements and various leaves, as well as ensuring public safety at various protests and demonstrations, and timing of body-worn camera equipment purchases.
“Recent increased aggravated attacks on VPD police officers, as well as public mischief and assaults, continue to put pressure on the VPD and related costs to address such issues,” said the report, which warned the $6.9-million projection could change before the end of the year.
The report said the projection does not include extraordinary items such as, but not limited to, “the unfavourable economic impacts resulting from implementation of tariffs, number of homicides, street disorder, retail thefts, officer safety and wellness and other unpredictable events.”
East Hastings Street overtime
In recent years, police have gone to council and successfully requested additional funds to cover overtime costs related to protests and demonstrations.
The department has also had to go before council to cover overtime costs incurred by officers escorting city crews as they continue to clear East Hastings Street sidewalks.
The VPD spent more than $2 million in overtime in 2024 on the East Hastings Street work. In December 2024, the department anticipated total costs to cover protests, including the allotted $1.1 million budget, would reach close to $4 million.
The VPD predicted in a report in 2023 that its operating budget will need to be almost half a billion dollars — $486 million — by 2028. The prediction does not include overtime estimates.
The figure is based on estimated salary and payroll benefit increases of 1,400-plus officers, covering attrition from retirements and the financial impact of hiring 100 new cops over the next couple of years.
Potential future collective agreement wage increases, anticipated E-Comm levy hikes and minor inflation adjustments for some non-salary items are other factors driving the need for bigger budgets.
Wage settlements alone from ratified or arbitrated collective agreements continue to grow at a rate faster than inflation, according to the VPD report from 2023 that outlined the costs of operating the police department.
X/@Howellings
