SUPERINTENDENT DEAN ROBINSON

Superintendent Dean Robinson is presently in charge of South Command, overseeing operations in the southern part of Vancouver, specifically Districts Three and Four.

Prior to this position, he was the Inspector in charge of District Two, following two years as the Inspector in charge of District Four. Before that, he spent two years managing the VPD Gang Crime Unit and the Drug Sections, and supervising the development of the highly successful Uniform Division of the British Columbia Integrated Gang Task Force (IGTF), the first of its kind, designed specifically to deal with gang violence in the Metro Vancouver region.

An exceptional trainer himself, Inspector Robinson has completed numerous in-service police-related courses, supervisory training and command courses. He was certified to train officers in several firearms, as well as less lethal options, along with tactical surveillance and witness protection. Through his own materials and classes, Inspector Robinson shares his previous tactical and command experience within the Department, at the Justice Institute of BC, and also nationally in the field of emergency response and critical incident management. Inspector Robinson is a past Departmental representative in the National Working Group for Critical Incident Commanders, which developed a national standard for Critical Incident Command.

Inspector Robinson joined the Vancouver Police Department in the spring of 1981 after two years of community college. He has enjoyed assignments in many areas of the Vancouver Police Department, most of which were primarily operational. He has held supervisory positions in Communications, Drug Squad, Emergency Response Section, Patrol, and command positions in the Duty Officer pool, Emergency Response Section, Gang Crime Unit, the Drug Section and the British Columbia IGTF - Uniform Division.

Inspector Robinson is the recipient of four Vancouver Chief Constable Commendations, as well as a Lieutenant Governor’s Medal of Valour, but perhaps his most significant award was being invested as a Member of the Order of Merit for Canadian policing in January 2010.