British ColumbiaThe incoming chief calls her new role an ‘immense privilege.’Incoming chief calls new role an ‘immense privilege’Wolfgang Depner · The Canadian Press · Posted: Aug 28, 2025 7:35 PM EDT | Last Updated: 4 hours agoFiona Wilson is pictured on Aug. 30, 2023 as deputy chief const. of the Vancouver Police Departmnet. On Aug. 28, 2025, she took the helm as chief of the Victoria Police Department. (Ben Nelms/CBC)Victoria’s new police chief, Fiona Wilson, says she will apply lessons from Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside (DTES) to the most downtrodden community in the provincial capital, but acknowledges she still has much to learn about her new post. Wilson says a personal tour of Victoria’s Pandora Avenue has reminded her “a lot of some of the challenges” she has witnessed as an officer working in the DTES, which is grappling with homelessness, poverty, addiction and crime.Wilson says Victoria is a “really small microcosm” of the challenges Vancouver has faced, but adds it is a diverse community and she looks forward to learning more about the department and its service area, which also includes Esquimalt. Wilson is the first woman to hold the top job with the Victoria police, and said she was taking the position with a sense of both “profound responsibility” and “immense privilege.”Wilson previously served for 27 years with the Vancouver Police Department, where she rose to the rank of deputy chief before taking the top job in Victoria. LISTEN | Victoria mayor on why Wilson was chosen to be the city’s new top cop: All Points WestNew top cop named for Victoria PoliceFiona Wilson will replace chief Del Manak who is retiring at the end of August. Victoria Mayor and police board member Marianne Alto discusses why Wilson was the board’s pick for the top policing job for Victoria and Esquimalt.Wilson’s appointment as Victoria’s new police chief was announced in April 2025, replacing Del Manak, who officially handed over his command during a ceremony Thursday at the formal residence of Lt. Governor Wendy Cocchia.Manak, who became chief in 2017, is retiring after 35 years in policing, including 32 years with the Victoria Police Department.At Thursday’s ceremony, he said his time on the job had been “more meaningful than I could ever have imagined.””Thank you for the trust that you’ve placed in me, for the support that you’ve shown and for allowing me to live a dream that I could have only imagined as a young boy walking the halls of George Jay Elementary located just a few blocks from VicPD,” he said.With files from CHEK News
Victoria’s new police chief says she will apply lessons from her 27 years on Vancouver force
