Vancouver mayor says police meeting planned after wrongful detention of Black former justice

VANCOUVER (NEWS 1130) – Vancouver Mayor Kennedy Stewart says the police board will be meeting as soon as possible to talk about the wrongful detention of B.C.’s first Black Supreme Court justice.

Retired Justice Selwyn Romilly, who’s 81 years old, was handcuffed on the seawall Friday by Vancouver Police officers who were looking for a suspect between 40 and 50 years old.

Stewart says he has called on police board members to take action.

“A number of police board members said to me that they wanted to deal with this at the earliest possible opportunity, and so we’re working on a meeting time right now where we can discuss this, both this individual incident and really systemic racism within our institutions,” he told NEWS 1130 Monday.

.@VanPoliceBoard meeting in works to discuss wrongful detention of Selwyn Romilly, BC's 1st Black Supreme Court Justice."We're working on a meeting time right now where we can discuss … this individual incident + really system racism w/in our institutions," says Mayor Stewart.

— Monika Gul (@MonikaGul) May 17, 2021

“When I heard about the wrongful detention and handcuffing of retired justice Romilly, I immediately contacted him to apologize,” Stewart explained. “Then after I informed the chief, as well as the members of the police board, about my opinion on this matter, which is [that it is] completely unacceptable and called on them for further action.”

As the police board chair, Stewart says he’s unable to make motions or vote.

Romilly has also received an apology from the VPD. However, there have been calls for more accountability from VPD Chief Const. Adam Palmer on this matter.

‘We make mistakes’: VPD chief constable says ‘police don’t always get it right’

NEWS 1130 had reached out to Palmer several times for comment. On Monday at a news conference about gang-related activity, Palmer publicly addressed what happened to Romilly on Friday.

“Our officers observed a man who responding officers believed matched the description of the suspect that was provided by the public. This man was retired justice Mr. Selwyn Romilly,” Palmer said.

“They detained him briefly, placed him in handcuffs, and he was released once they determined that he was not the man acting violently,” he added.

Palmer says the situation was “dynamic and evolving” and has issued a public apology, noting he also reached out to Romilly on Saturday.

He says officers also apologized to the retired justice.

“Police officers are human beings. We make mistakes, we don’t always get it right. I have spoken with the officer involved and that officer also apologized for the circumstances on that day,” Palmer said, adding the situation was unfolding quickly.

Meanwhile, Stewart admits there’s a lot of work to be done as we look forward.

“I think that our colonial past has not gone away — there’s unequal distribution of justice across our society, whether it’s in the court systems, or in city hall, or in the VPD. And so it is incumbent upon us to do everything we can, so these are the conversations we’ll be having at the police board at the nearest opportunity,” Stewart said.

I am appalled by the wrongful handcuffing and detainment of retired Justice Selwyn Romilly and have reached out to apologize.

Systemic racism is a reality of our colonial institutions. Incidents like this are unacceptable and cannot continue to happen. #vanpoli pic.twitter.com/WAA2YyFucV

— Kennedy Stewart (@kennedystewart) May 15, 2021

Two city councillors have said this incident is just the latest to shine a light on the changes needed to break down systemic discrimination in Vancouver.

Romilly has told NEWS 1130 he’s not going to file a formal complaint against police because the issue has gotten enough attention already. However, he too believes there’s more work that needs to be done.

-With files from Bethlehem Mariam and Nikitha Martins