Vancouver Police Chief Jim Chu is retiring from the VPD after 36 years. Chu became chief in August of 2007, replacing Jamie Graham. Chu will retire in the spring.
Announcing my retirement after 36 yrs as @VancouverPD officer and 7.5 yrs as Chief. Thanks to community supporters, partners & VPD staff.
— Jim Chu (@ChiefJimChu) January 23, 2015
During his tenure, Chu tried to improve relations between police and the most vulnerable in the city, including residents of the Downtown Eastside. He also urged the provincial government to address the city's mental health "crisis."
Over the last seven years, Chu has handled major events in Vancouver, including the 2010 Winter Olympics and the 2011 Stanley Cup riot. He dealt with Occupy Vancouver in 2011 and, more recently, the Oppenheimer Park encampment — potentially volatile protests, which ended peacefully.
Chu also brought stability to a force that had been rocked by scandal over the years, and one which had been led by a succession of chiefs.
He was hired by a police board chaired by Sam Sullivan, who was mayor between 2005 and 2008. He beat out Kash Heed and Bob Rich for the job.
The chief's current three deputy chiefs are LePard, Warren Lemcke and Adam Palmer. It's not known whether any of these deputies will vie for Chu's job.
Before becoming chief, Chu oversaw the VPD's operations support division, which included emergency response teams, strike force and counter-terrorism. He was one of the department's technology experts. As a sergeant in charge of the recruiting unit in 1996, he developed and launched the first VPD website.
Chu was promoted to inspector in 1997 and became the VPD's project manager on the E-Comm project, overseeing the department's link up to the E-Comm radio system, the new dispatch facility, the PRIME-B.C. records management system and a new mobile computing and data access platform.
Chu, who joined the VPD in 1979, was the first Chinese-Canadian to become chief in Vancouver. He was born in Shanghai, China. His family moved to Canada when Chu was three years old.
Chu, a longtime recreational hockey player, graduated from Sir Charles Tupper secondary school and he holds a bachelor of business administration degree from Simon Fraser University and master's of business administration from University of British Columbia. His wife is a retired VPD office.
A press conference is scheduled for 11:30 a.m.
Check back for updates on this developing story.
Enormous thanks to @ChiefJimChu for 36 years of @VancouverPD service. He has announced his retirement today after 7.5 years as chief!
— City of Vancouver (@CityofVancouver) January 23, 2015
— with files from Mike Howell
Note: This story has been corrected since it was first posted
