Victoria, BC –Chief Del Manak, along with Deputy Chief Watson, the VicPD Ceremonial Guard and a team of Reserves and volunteers will be joining a marked VicPD Dodge Charger, our Historical Society Car 40 and more as they walk in the Victoria Day Parade on Monday May 21st.
“This year marks the 120th Victoria Day parade,” Chief Del Manak said. “We’ve had officers taking part all that time. It’s a great part of the city’s history and a great part of VicPD’s history. We’re glad to be a part of it.”
In addition to our parade contingent, VicPD officers and volunteer Reserves will be directing traffic, manning barricades and providing security during the event.
#VicPDHelps Returns
In order to assist with keeping connected with those attending the parade festivities, we will be deploying #VicPDHelps before and during the event. Simply tag us on Twitter or tweet using the #vicpdhelps tag and you’ll be connected to our command centre team. #VicPDHelps has been used during previous events, including Canada Day celebrations to report concerns during the event, and has been used to help locate lost children and provide incident updates. For emergencies, please continue to call 911.
Road Closures in Effect
Road closures will be in effect on the day of the parade and along the parade route. Most roads will be closed from at 7:00 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. with Belleville remaining closed for the 1:00 p.m. Victoria Day salute at the Legislature. We’ll work to open the roads as early as possible. If you’re coming to enjoy the parade, please consider using transit to get into and out of downtown as parking and vehicle mobility along the route will be limited. A map of the parade route and road closures can be found here. More information about the parade, Royal Canadian Airforce flyover salute and other festivities can be found here.
CCTV cameras Deployed
As with previous events, we will be deploying temporary cameras in support of our operations to ensure public safety during this year’s Victoria Day Parade.
While there is no information indicating a known threat to this event, public gatherings have been the targets of past attacks world-wide. The deployment of these cameras is part of our operations to help keep this event fun, safe and family-friendly. In addition to enhancing security, previous deployments of these cameras have helped locate lost children and seniors at large-scale public events and have provided for effective coordination in responding to medical events.
As always, we are deploying these temporarily placed, monitored cameras in public spaces in accordance with B.C. and national privacy legislation. The cameras are going up in the next two days and will be taken down a short time after the event.
If you have questions or concerns about our temporary CCTV camera deployment, please email [email protected]