Vancouver Police Chief Steve Rai, then interim chief, speaks after mass at Holy Rosary Cathedral for the victims of the attack at the Lapu Lapu festival in Vancouver, on May 2.DARRYL DYCK/The Canadian Press
Long-time Vancouver deputy police chief Steve Rai says he faces two major challenges as he takes over as the city’s new head officer: training the department’s large number of “very young” constables and ensuring its resources continue to grow.
At a news conference announcing his appointment inside Vancouver City Hall this week, Chief Rai said if he runs into budget issues he will approach Mayor Ken Sim, who stood beside him on stage, to give him “the full picture of how this city is growing and policing is growing with it.”
“We’re looking for support from all stakeholders in the city to ensure we’re well set up to keep growing and keep innovating,” he said.
Chief Rai joined the force in 1990 as a front-line officer. In recent years, he had been in charge of the department’s support services division, which oversees the VPD’s human resources, recruiting, training and IT sections.
He became acting interim chief when Adam Palmer formally stepped down at the end of last month, two days before the devastating Lapu-Lapu Day attack that saw 11 festivalgoers killed when an SUV plowed through a massive crowd.
At the news conference, Chief Rai praised his predecessor for helping prepare him for this moment and heralded his colleague, Deputy Chief Howard Chow, who had also been in the running for the position. Deputy Chief Chow stood smiling on stage at the announcement and told reporters he would fully support his friend in his new role.
In February, Mr. Palmer announced his retirement after a decade as chief, making him the city’s longest-serving police leader.
Chief Rai will have to contend with staffing challenges as the city continues to try to fulfill Mayor Sim‘s 2022 election pledge to hire 100 net new officers. Both the Vancouver Police Department and the nascent Surrey Police Service are competing for new recruits and the latter has poached some of the former’s more tenured officers.
Former B.C. Supreme Court judge Wally Oppal, who chaired the joint municipal-provincial committee that oversaw Surrey’s transition away from a decades-old contract with the RCMP, said Chief Rai lost out on the contest to become the new chief of the Surrey force nearly five years ago.
But Mr. Oppal said on Friday he recently gave a glowing review of both Chief Rai and Deputy Chief Chow when asked by Vancouver Police Board members about the pair of VPD leaders.
“I said that both these guys were excellent choices and that Steve had paid his dues,” said Mr. Oppal, a former provincial attorney-general and expert on police oversight who also chaired the Missing Women Commission of Inquiry.
The close relationship between Mayor Sim and the VPD cultivated by the last chief looks set to continue under Chief Rai, who referred jokingly to the mayor as “our best friend” during the press conference.
The former chief said at his exit press conference that his most difficult decision during 10 years in that role was fighting former mayor Kennedy Stewart’s request to help the city trim its 2021 budget because of revenue shortfalls from the pandemic. Mr. Palmer worked with the police board to appeal to the province and eventually had the $5.7-million restored to the departmental budget.
The VPD’s budget has increased each year since and Mr. Sim announced in February a $5-million boost to the department so it could start a controversial crackdown on the city’s Downtown Eastside named Task Force Barrage.
Frank Chong, chair of the Vancouver Police Board and a member of the search committee for a new chief, said Chief Rai was picked after from a small pool of Canadian candidates.