Victoria Police Department

Victoria Police Department
Victoria Police Department
Abbreviation	VicPD
	220x140px VicPD Heraldic Badge
	220x140px Past style ID Badge of VicPD
Motto	Honour through Service
Agency overview
Formed	July 1858
Employees	349
Volunteers	78
Legal personality	Governmental: Government agency
Jurisdictional structure
Operations jurisdiction*	City of Victoria in the province of British Columbia, Canada
Governing body	Victoria Police Board
Constituting instrument	BC Police Act
General nature	Law enforcement; Local civilian police;
Operational structure
Headquarters	850 Caledonia Ave
Police Constables	243
Civilians	106
Elected officers responsible	The Honourable Mike Morris, Minister of Public Safety and Solicitor General of British Columbia; Her Worship Lisa Helps, Mayor & Chair of the Victoria Police Board;
Agency executive	Frank Elsner, Chief Constable
Facilities
Stations	2 850 Caledonia Ave; 500 Park Place;
Website
	http://www.vicpd.ca
Footnotes
	* Divisional agency: Division of the country, over which the agency has usual operational jurisdiction.

Victoria Police Department (VicPD) is the municipal police force for the City of Victoria and the Township of Esquimalt, British Columbia, Canada. It is the oldest municipal police department in Canada west of the Great Lakes, the first Canadian law enforcement agency to deploy Tasers and VicPD created the first digital forensic unit in the country. They are also one of the few police departments in Canada to use the G36 rifle.

VicPD is currently headed by Chief Frank Elsner, who took office on January 1, 2014.

History

Shoulder flash prior to June 2010

On July 8th, 1858, Vancouver Island Governor James Douglas appointed Augustus Pemberton as Commissioner of Police for the then British colony. Policing in Victoria pre-dated the city's founding (1862). Pemberton's appointment was published locally on July 17th, 1858.

Prior to the Colonial Police under Pemberton, policing on Vancouver Island was conducted by the Victoria Voltigeurs. The Voltigeurs existed as an armed, uniformed militia that served all Vancouver Island on an "as and when needed" basis. It is thought that they were primarily of Metis background. Following the end of their service, in 1854 a single town Constable (Thomas Hall) policed the early town core. The Department was a shared Crown Colony, Province and City establishment through until the mid-1870s when control and oversight of the Department was left with the young City of Victoria.

VicPD honours the memory of five officers who have lost their lives serving the citizens of Greater Victoria; the first officer, Constable Johnston Cochrane being murdered in 1859 and his death is marked as the first known law enforcement death in the Province of British Columbia. The most recent line of duty death was a tragic motorcycle incident that caused the death of Constable Earle Doyle in 1959. VicPD and their associated Victoria Police Historical Society placed a Memorial Cairn at their headquarters on Caledonia Avenue inscribing all five names.

Operations

The VicPD is a moderate sized police agency with two stations:

Main Headquarters Building in Victoria 850 Caledonia Ave
West Division in Esquimalt - shared facility with Esquimalt Fire Department and former Township of Esquimalt Public Safety Building

Neighbourhood patrol areas are:

Esquimalt
- Panhandle
- Selkirk
- Colville
- Parklands
- Rockheights
Devonshire
West Bay
Esquimalt Village
- Saxe Point

Victoria
- Burnside
- Hillside/Quadra
- North Park
- Oaklands
- Victoria West
- Downtown
- Harris Green
- Fernwood
- North Jubilee
- Rockland
- James Bay
- Fairfield
- Gonzales

Previous VicPD headquarters:

Fort Victoria
Victoria Voltigeurs Encampment at Swan Creek and Colquitz Creek area
Bastion Square Gaol 1860-1880s
Victoria City Hall 1880s-1918
Fisgard Street 1918-1996^[1]

Organization

Victoria Police is headed by Chief of Police Frank Elsner and has a total strength of 243 sworn officers.

Sections & Units: ^[2]

Main Headquarters
- Patrol
- Focused Enforcement Team (FET)
  - Bike squad
  - Beat officers
  - Traffic section
  - CRASH reconstruction team
  - Community Resource officers
- Investigative Services
  - VIIMCU (Vancouver Island Integrated Major Crime Unit)
  - Major Crimes
  - Financial Crimes
  - Special Victims Unit
  - Forensic Services
    - Forensic Identification (IDENT)
    - Computer Forensics
- Crime Prevention and Public Affairs
  - Public Affairs
  - Block Watch
  - Volunteer Services
  - Reserve Program
  - Crime Free Multi-Housing Program
- Operational Planning & Support
- 911 Communication Centre
- Greater Victoria Emergency Response Team (GVERT)
- Strikeforce & Street Crime
- Exhibit Control & Purchasing
- Human Resources
- Records
- Information Technology

West Division
- School Liaison Officers
- Youth Investigators
- Community Resource Officer
- K-9 Units

The force also recruits Reserve Constables, otherwise known as Auxiliary Constable [1].

Rank structure

Chief of Police / Chief Constable (crown over three pips)
Deputy Chief / Deputy Chief Constable (crown over two pips)
Superintendent (crown over one pip)
Inspector (Three Pips)
Staff Sergeant (crown over three chevrons point down)
Sergeant (three chevrons point down)
Police Constable 1st Class / Detective
Police Constable 2nd Class
Police Constable 3rd Class
Police Constable 4th Class (includes recruit constables)

Integrated Road Safety Unit (IRSU)

Four VicPD officers are seconded to the 15 member unit IRSU.^[3] IRSU is mandated to "providing intelligence led enforcement while targeting aggressive driving behaviors, reducing alcohol-related crashes and encouraging the use of seatbelts" within the Capital Regional District.^[4] This unit comprises officers from Saanich Police Department, Victoria Police Department, Oak Bay Police Department, Central Saanich Police and the RCMP under an agreement with the BC Ministry of Public Safety and Solicitor General and they patrol in specially marked car and are able to enforce laws outside their municipal jurisdiction.