Latest news with #FrankChong
CBC
24-06-2025
- Politics
- CBC
Vancouver's mayor says he wasn't behind push for $5 million DTES police crackdown
How the Vancouver Police Department got the green light for a $5 million campaign to reduce crime in the Downtown Eastside — or if it needed it outside approval at all — continues to be murky. "Coun. Fry's insinuations that direction for Barrage came from the mayor's office is false. To be clear, Task Force Barrage is a VPD-led initiative that I fully support," said Vancouver Mayor Ken Sim, in response to Coun. Pete Fry's filing of a freedom of information request for more transparency on the origins of the high-profile VPD campaign. Fry filed the FOI after VPD Board Chair Frank Chong said the board wasn't aware of Task Force Barrage until it was revealed in a media announcement. "We need to know that that authorization for police operations is not coming out of the back room in the mayor's office," he said. "There seems to be no paper trail." While Sim said Barrage is a VPD-led initiative, in April, the VPD characterized it as a "joint initiative by Vancouver Police and the Council". A VPD spokesperson said that was because council had committed to funding the project — but no formal vote has yet taken place. As Justin McElroy reports above, the conversation around the proposal is inherently tied to larger conversations in Vancouver around public safety and the VPD budget.
CTV News
20-06-2025
- Politics
- CTV News
Vancouver Police Board learned about ‘Task Force Barrage' through mayor's announcement, chair says
The oversight body was unaware of a $5 million crime crackdown on the Downtown Eastside before it was announced at a press conference, the chair confirmed. An oversight body whose role it is to develop the Vancouver Police Department's budget, wasn't part of the approval process for a multi-million dollar initiative aimed at targeting crime on the Downtown Eastside. Frank Chong, the chair of the Vancouver Police Board, said the board learned about the $5 million dollar plan, named 'Task Force Barrage,' through Mayor Ken Sim's press conference with then-chief Adam Palmer in February. 'That was a notification that we found out at during the media announcement,' Chong said. 'And I think that what transpired was that there was a miscommunication and perhaps, some missteps with regards to process.' Chong said the board is working on rectifying what transpired. 'That was determined by the finance committee that there is a need for sharpening of that particular process, which will be discussed at our governance committee,' he added. Police Act The mayor's announcement, came after the city's budget was finalized. As outlined in the B.C. Police Act, the Vancouver Police Board is required to prepare and approve the provisional budget for the following year on an annual basis. Any changes to this budget, per the act, must be submitted to council on or before March 1 of the year to which the provisional budget relates. Chong believes the board did not breach the legislation. Mayor's response Typically, the approval process for an initiative such as Task Force Barrage involves city council sending a request to the police board, which would then discuss the financial implications. From there, if board members agreed they were wiling to adjust the budget, they would then give approval to the Vancouver Police Department. CTV News asked Sim in May, why a funding request or proposal was not sent to the police board for approval before the task force was launched. At the time, Sim said he didn't know. 'Look, I can't comment on what people know and didn't know,' he said. 'You're asking me to comment on what six other individuals knew. I'm not in their mind.' Critics such as Green Coun. Pete Fry and former board vice-chair Faye Wightman have questioned how Task Force Barrage was approved. Both have pointed to the lack of a paper trail and called it a backroom deal.
