If there is a complaint of wrongdoing against the Vancouver Police Department, you can be sure David Eby is either front and centre or lurking in the background.

Just last week, he did the media rounds condemning the VPD for the behaviour of one of its officers caught on video pushing a disabled woman to the ground in the Downtown Eastside.

As executive director of the B.C. Civil Liberties Association and a former member of the Pivot Legal Society, Eby has spent a good deal of his time writing letters to the Vancouver Police Board complaining about what he believes are unjust policies.

He's called for a moratorium on Taser use, criticized the VPD's purchase of a so-called sound cannon and questioned the force's 2008 business plan to ticket more marginalized people.

But he has also given the VPD occasional praise.

He did that when Police Chief Jim Chu announced police officers wouldn't be using controversial provincial legislation to force homeless people into a shelter. He did the same when he learned how restrained officers were during the 2010 Winter Games, where some of the protests got ugly.

So it was with some interest I came across more kudos bestowed upon the VPD from the ubiquitous activist often seen as anti-police. Buried in the July 21 Vancouver Police Board agenda is a section that briefly lists some of the complimentary letters sent to the VPD.

An excerpt from a letter received June 9 from the "executive director of the B.C. Civil Liberties Association" commends two officers who dealt with an intoxicated person on a street corner. "Their respect and courteous manner and a demonstrated concern for the health and well-being of someone in clear distress, when combined with a perfect execution of policy and best practice, struck me as being particularly exemplary conduct and worthy of recognition."

So there you have it--Eby is a cop lover!

Well, maybe not. Coincidentally, at the same meeting of the police board in which Eby's letter appears, the board's service and policy complaint review committee dealt with complaints from...you guessed it... the civil liberties association. The complaints concerned police use of force.

And after watching the video last week that captures a VPD officer pushing the woman to the ground in the Downtown Eastside, I suspect Eby's praise for the cops has stopped--for now.

On it goes.

PRICE OF GOLD

In other police board news...

A report from Deputy Chief Adam Palmer showed the VPD came in on budget for its costs related to the 2010 Winter Games.

The total bill, which included a portion of 2009 to cover pre-Games protests and demonstrations, was $12.96 million--$7.9 million of which was spent on overtime, $2.5 million on equipment and $2.1 million on salaries. The costs were picked up by "external agencies." In other words, provincial and federal governments.

Police Chief Jim Chu said the public shouldn't be surprised the force didn't go over budget, despite some ugly protests where activists smashed windows and vandalized vehicles.

"When we came up with our budget, there's only so many physical hours that we can work and our spending is, really, staff time put into the Games," Chu said. "And people were going maximum. So it's hard to spend more than maximum."

mhowell@vancourier.com