The BCCLA and Union of BC Indian Chiefs have written to the Vancouver Police Board regarding the Pyxis-authored Vancouver Police Board Street Checks Report and the Vancouver Police Board’s closure of our joint policy complaint regarding street checks.
We are incredibly troubled at the recent news that the Vancouver Police Board Street Checks Review Committee decided to release a draft of the Pyxis report to the VPD, and a subsequent chain of events leading to the removal of a very relevant paragraph from the final report regarding police racism and misconduct witnessed by researchers during two VPD ride-along excursions. This chain of events included VPD Deputy Chief Howard Chow having “lengthy discussions” with a Pyxis researcher about the section in question, and Chow then speaking to the Vancouver Police Board Street Checks Review Committee about the “variety of reasons” for the removal of the paragraph.
The deleted paragraph regarding comments and behaviour during two of the twelve VPD ride-along excursions are directly relevant to the Pyxis Report that the Vancouver Police Board accepted. Furthermore, discriminatory behaviour and attitudes were at the very core of our concerns in our original complaint. We originally filed the policy complaint because we were alarmed by the release of data indicating that the VPD was discriminating against Black and Indigenous people, and Indigenous women in particular.
Given the public trust at stake with the Vancouver Police Board’s commissioned Pyxis Report, and in light of the information about the deleted paragraph that contains information that is directly relevant to the nature of the street check review, we call on the Vancouver Police Board to:
- Review its prior decision to accept the findings of the Pyxis-authored Vancouver Police Board Street Checks Review report, and
- Re-assess its decision to conclude the review of our street check policy complaint
