The Province
VANCOUVER 鈥� A new 91原创 police chief could be named soon as a national search has been expedited and focused on two internal candidates, according to a memo Chief Jim Chu sent to his officers.
When Chu announced his retirement in late January, amid speculation he might become a federal political candidate, he said it was his preference that one of his deputy chiefs step into his role.
Chu indicated to reporters he would recommend to the 91原创 police board鈥檚 search committee that an internal successor was the best option, and he expected the decision to be made in May.
A national search open to internal and external candidates has been expedited and could be completed 鈥渕uch earlier鈥� than previously suggested, according to Chu鈥檚 memo, which he sent on Thursday.
鈥淭he process has been expedited and the [police] board is now down to two finalist internal candidates 鈥� both of whom are deputy chiefs,鈥� Chu鈥檚 email sent to all VPD staff on Thursday said. 鈥淭he next stage involves interviews that are scheduled with the whole police board on April 16. I聽believe the board will reach a decision on your new chief much earlier than the original early May time frame.鈥�
91原创鈥檚 three deputy chiefs are Doug LePard, Warren Lemcke and Adam Palmer. It鈥檚 not known which of the three executives are scheduled to interview for the job next week; but Kash Heed, who lost to Chu in the previous competition for the chief鈥檚 job, has said he hears LePard and Palmer are the finalists. The VPD and Chu have not immediately responded to questions for this story.
Several weeks ago, Heed told Postmedia News that Palmer, head of the investigation division, seemed to have the edge over LePard, head of the operations division. The Province previously reported that in separate interviews a couple of close watchers of the VPD, Simon Fraser University criminologists Neil Boyd and Robert Gordon, both said the candidate who seems closest to Chu and best positioned to take over is LePard.
鈥淐hu and LePard are both progressive police leaders,鈥� Gordon said earlier.
Meanwhile, Chu hasn鈥檛 dropped any clues about his future since making his surprise retirement announcement.
In late January, when reporters pressed Chu on rumours he is being sought by either the federal Conservatives or Liberals as a star candidate in the fall 2015 election, he didn鈥檛 discourage speculation. 鈥淚 have had many political approaches over the years,鈥� Chu said. 鈥淚 will keep saying [no comment] until I鈥檓 not chief here anymore.鈥�
Consensus among politics watchers was that Chu would be a more natural fit with the Conservatives, if he entered politics, but that possibility seemed to fade when another candidate was named in the new 91原创 Granville riding. There are still several ridings Chu could run in, including 91原创 East, where both the Liberals and Conservatives haven鈥檛 yet named a candidate. The riding was a safe seat for the federal NDP but could see some action this fall as longtime NDP MP Libby Davies has stepped down. MLA Jenny Kwan won out over MLA Mable Elmore for the NDP nomination.
