Many thanks to Victoria News for publishing my letter to the editor. Here is a link to the letter on their website.
And here is a link to the VicPD website showing that the department answers to the Police Board, not to City Council.
In case the Victoria News link above ever gets broken, here is the content:
Jul 5, 2025 12:00 PM
With the news coverage recently about Pandora Avenue, I need to address a frequent misunderstanding about law enforcement and the role of city councils.
It could arise from the pervasive nature of American movies and TV shows – where a mayor tells the police what to do.
It’s not like that here.
City mayors and councils do not make enforcement decisions, whether it’s about public drug use, shoplifting, or any other criminal matter. And the police do not answer to city councils.
Victoria city council has never directed VicPD to not enforce any particular law. Nor to enforce. We have not, and we cannot. When, where, how, and whether to enforce is completely – 100% – up to the police.
So if you want to see any changes to enforcement, please contact the police. They are the ones – the only ones – who decide.
Dave Thompson
Victoria Councillor
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And here’s what the Vancouver police chief said in a media interview:
“I think what is misunderstood both in the media and probably by the public at large is we’re not like the United States, and chiefs of police in Canada do not report to a mayor. They don’t report to a politician. I’ve made comments like that in the past in the media, and people say, ‘Oh, what’s he talking about?’ But the reality is, that’s the Canadian model of policing. And no chief in Canada reports to a mayor or to a politician.
And the board is who I report to. They’re the employer, and they’re actually put in place to prevent political interference. So that’s a huge difference between Canada and the United States that I don’t think is well understood by the public here in Canada.”
– https://www.vancouverisawesome.com/local-news/qa-vancouver-police-chief-talks-decriminalization-heiltsuk-nation-apology-crime-trends-6447623