Victoria, BC – I’ve been made aware that an on-duty VicPD officer was seen giving a “thumbs up” from his vehicle at a protest at the BC Legislature on Saturday. When I first saw a video of this today, I initially viewed it with concern since impartiality and neutrality are key to serving our community as police officers. I have since spoken to the officer, who told me that he was responding to appreciative comments from citizens about VicPD’s presence in ensuring public safety at this event.
As a police department, we attended 170 protests last year to keep the peace. While impartiality and neutrality are essential at these events, so is proactive engagement with protest participants and bystanders in the interest of public safety.
-30-