Vancouver city councillors demand accountability after VPD wrongfully detains Black man

VANCOUVER (NEWS 1130) — Two city councillors are expressing concerns with the Vancouver Police Department, saying racial profiling needs to be addressed, after the wrongful detainment of B.C.’s first Black Supreme Court justice.

On Friday, 81-year-old Selwyn Romilly said he was “humiliated” when the VPD wrongly detained him while he was on his daily walk along the seawall. When officers realized they had the wrong man, they apologized and removed the cuffs.

After the incident, Romilly received an apology from the mayor and the VPD.

However, city councillors say this incident is just the latest example shining a light on the changes needed to break down systemic discrimination in the city.

Councillor Pete Fry says Friday’s incident should never have happened. He says he’s disturbed that current protocols would suggest the first course of action is to handcuff a person who is not resisting arrest — especially when they’re seniors.

“I’m disappointed that there’s not been a more forthcoming and public recognition,” he says, adding the incident is, “an indication that they could do better.”

Read more: Vancouver Police wrongly detain B.C.’s first Black Supreme Court Justice on seawall

Romilly told NEWS 1130 Saturday he’s not going to file a complaint against police because the issue has gotten enough attention already, but he thinks officers need to be better.

Fry says he understands Romilly will not be filing a formal complaint, “That being said, obviously, this should never have happened.”

Calling Vancouver police leaders in the city, Fry says the absence of a public apology “sends a signal that it’s not important.”

If it was not a case of racial profiling, then Fry says he would like to know more about the officers’ protocols.

“I honestly don’t think that would happen if race were not a factor here,” he says.

As the city continues to have conversations about race and policing, “police need to be at the table with us,” Fry adds.

Meanwhile, councillor Michael Wiebe says the incident presents opportunities to talk about new ways of policing and better community safety strategies.

“Public safety is kind of held with the VPD. And one of the things we’re working on as a council is how do we … [involve] different organizations,” he explains.

At the moment, Wiebe says the city is working on provincial police reform and finding collective ways of dealing with community safety.

“We can fund different organizations that have different values to take on and re-task some of the work that VPD is doing. And this is something that VPD has been asking for. We’ve continued to just dump and defund social services to the point that everything’s been piled on to the VPD,” he says.

“I think we’ve recognized coming out of COVID here that we need to change in this system. And that’s why we’re seeing leadership at the provincial level, as well as through the city on how we can make those changes, and re-task to some of the tasks that are currently being held with the VPD.”

Wiebe adds the conversation sparked by the wrongful arrest is especially needed since some Vancouverites may brush off the systemic racism that lives in the city.

“We think it doesn’t happen here,” Wiebe says. “And I think we’re starting to see that with some of the anti-Asian racism that’s coming up and bubbling up. We do need to recognize that this is happening in the city of Vancouver, and we do need to be serious and start to really have those conversations with each other on how we could do this differently.”

NEWS 1130 has reached out to Chief Adam Palmer several times for comment.

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