Service and Policy Complaints

The Vancouver Police Board is responsible for taking action to respond to complaints made about the services or policies of the VPD.

As set out in s.168 of the Police Act, service or policy complaints are complaints about the general direction, management and operation of a police department, or about the inadequacy or inappropriateness of the police department's:

staffing or resource allocation
training programs or resources
standing orders or policies
ability to respond to requests for assistance
internal procedures

The Board does not have authority to oversee complaints about the actions of individual police officers (called conduct complaints). You can find more information about conduct complaints from the VPDs Professional Standards Section website.

How the Board processes complaints

The Vancouver Police Board follows the provisions of the Police Act when processing service and policy complaints. It meets as the Service and Policy Complaint Review Standing Committee to receive complaints. The Standing Committee may take any action it thinks necessary to respond to a complaint, including asking the Chief Constable or an outside body to investigate it. Once it has the results of any investigation, the Standing Committee decides on its response to the complaint.

All members of the Police Board are members of the Service and Policy Complaint Review Standing Committee.

The Standing Committee meets in public, except where it discusses matters that may be discussed in private under s.69.2 of the Police Act (broadly, public security where public disclosure could impair law enforcement, individuals' financial or personal affairs or labour issues).

Terms of reference for the Committee were agreed by the Board in April 2006. The Standing Committee meets as required to respond to complaints. Standing Committee agendas and minutes will be published on the Standing Committee meetings page.

Complaints made about the Chief Constable and Deputy Chief Constables

The Chair of the Vancouver Police Board is the discipline authority for conduct complaints made about the Chief Constable or a Deputy Chief Constable.

Making a complaint

Your right to make a complaint about a municipal police department is set out in the Police Act.

You can make a complaint about the services and policies of the Vancouver Police Department directly to the Board or to the Office of the Police Complaint Commissioner.

If your complaint is about the actions of an individual police officer (a conduct complaint), you can submit it to the VPD Professional Standards Section or to the Office of the Police Complaint Commissioner.

In either case you should use the OPCC'S Complaint Form.

If you have any questions about the process of making a complaint you can contact:

	Office of the Police Complaint Commissioner	(604) 660 2385 1 (877) 999 8707
	Vancouver Police Board	(604) 717 3170
	VPD Professional Standards Section	(604) 717 2670