UBCIC, BCAFN call on VPD to release video of officers mocking sexual harassment

B.C.’s two largest Indigenous groups are calling for the public release of a video Vancouver police officers made, where they mocked an internal sexual harassment investigation.

The video’s existence was made public knowledge on Tuesday (Nov. 22), when the Office of the Police Complaint Commissioner released its annual report on municipal police force misconduct cases.

In the report, the OPCC revealed that two Vancouver officers filmed a video of themselves uniformed, on duty and at the Cambie Street police headquarters in 2019 making fun of an ongoing investigation into allegations of sexual harassment within VPD. The video was then circulated throughout the force, including to a supervisor, none of whom addressed it sufficiently, according to OPCC.

Commenting on the discovery, Police Complaints Commissioner Clayton Pecknold described the video as “troubling misogynistic behaviour.”

The Union of B.C. Indian Chiefs and B.C. Assembly of First Nations is now calling for its public release.

“This is unacceptable, and it needs to be brought to light,” Melissa Moses, women’s representative for UBCIC, said Thursday, while speaking on a panel about ending violence against women.

She and the two other panelists spoke extensively about the connection between violence against Indigenous women, girls and gender-diverse people and racism and sexism within police forces.

Black Press Media has reached out to the Vancouver Police Department and Office of the Police Complaint Commissioner for comment. Neither has responded as of publication time.

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@janeskrypnek
jane.skrypnek@blackpress.ca

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First Nationssexual harassmentVancouver police