British ColumbiaThe chair of the Vancouver Police Board admits overtime levels of the force’s sworn officers are “a concern,” but he and Vancouver’s police chief are pointing to the provincial police academy for a shortage of recruits.Province says Justice Institute of B.C. will remain central to city police training as expansion announcedLiam Britten · CBC News · Posted: Oct 10, 2025 9:56 PM EDT | Last Updated: 4 hours agoVancouver Police Department chief Steve Rai speaks to media after the release of the final report on the Lapu Lapu day tragedy in Vancouver, B.C, on Thursday, September 4, 2025. (Ben Nelms/CBC)The chair of the Vancouver Police Board admits overtime levels of the force’s sworn officers are “a concern” but he and Vancouver’s police chief are pointing to the provincial police academy for a shortage of recruits.During a recess in a board meeting Thursday, Chief Const. Steve Rai and chair Frank Chong spoke about overtime at the Vancouver Police Department (VPD) following a CBC News investigation.CBC News obtained numbers through a Freedom of Information request that showed VPD spending on overtime has increased 50 per cent — from $26 million in 2022 to $39 million in 2024. Officers earning $100,000 or more in overtime had quadrupled in those years — including one sergeant in 2024 who pulled in $239,258 on top of their base pay.Chong argued a “root cause” for this lies in the force being unable to get enough new officers, which must go through the police academy at the Justice Institute of B.C.”We have been very, very clear with the Justice Institute that we need the proper amount of officers trained and we are not getting that,” Chong said. “We are down by dozens and dozens of officers … We are at a breaking point.”Vancouver Police Board chair Frank Chong, seen here in a 2024 photo, says the lack of new officers from the police academy at the Justice Institute of B.C. is a “root cause” of rising overtime at the VPD. (Ben Nelms/CBC)Rai echoed those concerns.”To reduce overtime, you need officers, and to get officers, you need to train them,” Rai said.”We’ve got recruits in the pipeline ready to go into a class. We’re not getting the seats [at the Justice Institute] because the system is outdated by 15 years.”On Friday, Minister for Public Safety and Solicitor General Nina Krieger acknowledged those concerns at a press conference announcing a 50 per cent expansion to police-academy training at the Justice Institute, increasing the academy’s annual training capacity from 192 to 288.’We need to get people through’Founded in 1978 and under the purview of the Public Safety Ministry, the Justice Institute provides training to municipal, transit and tribal police recruits in B.C. with a province-approved curriculum.In addition to training police, corrections officers, paramedics, sheriffs and more, the school’s website says it has expanded to train security guards, bylaw officers, family dispute resolution professionals and others.Rai argues Justice Institute has been outgrown and city police departments ought to be able to do their own training, ramping efforts up or down as needed.”We’ve got FIFA coming, a growing province, and we just can’t get anywhere,” he said. “We’ve got the world coming in 10 months. We need to get people through.”He added Surrey’s transition from RCMP to a city department has “absolutely” exacerbated the issue.”Recruiting, retention and hiring is destabilized,” he said, explaining that municipal forces, including Vancouver, and even Mounties are poaching each other’s experienced officers.”It’s a back-and-forth tennis ball and it’s gotta stop somewhere.”Minister announces expansionKrieger announced extra seats for the police academy Friday, with the province making a $4-million investment in the school.Krieger’s ministry said in a statement the money will pay for more instructors, new training gear and “dedicated spaces to accommodate the increased number of police recruits.”Krieger said many of the issues highlighted by Rai and Chong led to Friday’s announcement.Nina Krieger, minister of public safety and solicitor general, is pictured Wednesday, Sept. 17, 2025. On Friday the minister announced funding for police training. (Ben Nelms/CBC)When asked about Rai’s desire for standalone police training, Krieger said, while her ministry will look at different departments’ needs, the Justice Institute is “central” to police training in B.C.”They have the expertise that is needed to do this work,” Krieger said.Rai said in an emailed statement Friday that the increase in seats is a step in the right direction, but still falls short of meeting the VPD’s operational needs.He reiterated that the VPD is seeking approval from the province to establish and operate its own training academy.”The VPD is uniquely positioned to train its own recruits, ensuring we meet workforce demands that are unique to Vancouver (i.e. FIFA 2026), while easing the burden on the existing academy infrastructure.”Board has OT auditChong said the board has tasked the chief and VPD management with increasing trained officers.Rai, when asked about the force’s top earners of overtime, said they could have been officers with special skills, such as surveillance, where there is a need to fill vacancies. He also said protests could be fuelling their extra hours.He emphasized that there are rules about overtime, including time between shifts.”We’re going to look at [the rules], ensure those were met, and in this particular case, if they’re not, we’ll correct it,” said Rai.Rai also said overtime makes financial sense in many cases, especially for events and during the summer when there are more public gatherings. He said it’s usually more efficient to use overtime than over-hire officers.Chong said the board would look at an audit into overtime Thursday. When asked when that audit would become public, he said he didn’t know. A follow-up email to the board asking the same question was not returned by publication time.CBC has asked for an interview with the Vancouver Police Union several times, but one has not been granted.ABOUT THE AUTHORLiam Britten is an award-winning journalist for CBC Vancouver. You can contact him at liam.britten@cbc.ca or follow him on Twitter: @liam_britten.
Rising VPD OT levels should spur province to act, police chief and board chair say
