Vancouver mayor, park board chair spar over reduced VPD beach patrols

Beachgoers sit on logs in Vancouver in this file photo.

The Vancouver Police Department will have a smaller presence on Vancouver beaches this summer than it has in recent years, and the explanation for why has shifted since CTV News began asking about it.

Initially, when CTV News asked about a tip indicating that VPD officers would not be staffing Vancouver beaches with officers on ATVs this summer, the department cited a lack of funding from the Vancouver Board of Parks and Recreation.

This kicked off a war of words between the park board chair and the mayor over public safety on beaches, with Mayor Ken Sim slamming the park board for failing to ensure “adequate resources” would remain in place and park board Chair Tom Digby calling the mayor’s position “completely misleading.”

After the initial version of this story highlighting the spat was published, the city sent CTV News an updated joint statement from itself, the VPD and the park board.

The statement frames the changes as a natural result of the maturation of the park board’s alcohol on beaches program, and one that all parties support.

Alcohol on beaches

In 2025, following a two-year pilot project, the park board decided to permanently allow alcohol consumption all summer long at seven popular beaches.

The policing costs for the program in 2025 were $450,000.

The year prior, the VPD boosted its budget by about half a million dollars through the pilot program.

At the time, VPD Insp. Marco Veronesi told CTV News the city’s funding was for overtime pay for 12 officers who would work mostly nights and weekends.

Park board chair’s comments

Digby said the board did not receive a specific funding request from the VPD for the beach patrols this year, and that the board did not decline any budget requests.

“We assumed it was because the police were too embarrassed, because they received a $50 million budget increase this year,” he said. “Every other city department, including the park board, got cut.”

Mayor weighs in

Sim slammed the move, saying it raised serious questions about park board priorities.

“To be clear, we fully support alcohol consumption on our beaches and in our parks, but public safety cannot be an afterthought,” he said. “If you are expanding alcohol access at beaches and parks, you must also ensure there are adequate resources in place to keep people safe, support frontline responders, and maintain order for families and residents enjoying these spaces.”

Sim added: “Residents expect common sense. If Vancouverites are enjoying a beer or a wine on the beach, public safety considerations must remain a priority.”

Digby said he wants a retraction from both the VPD and Sim, and characterized their comments as “misinformation.”

“I’m demanding that the police chief and the mayor get together and apologize and retract their statement, because they’re completely misleading.” he said. “It is not the park board’s responsibility to fund public safety on our beaches. That’s the police department. They have a (more than) $450 million budget this year, and they can find the money to keep the city safe, especially during this FIFA season.”

The updated statement

The Friday afternoon joint statement acknowledges that the VPD will no longer be seeking or receiving extra funding to support the alcohol on beaches initiative.

“Now that the program has matured, park rangers will be monitoring the beaches where drinking under the AOB program is allowed and will escalate any emergency issues to VPD members as necessary,” the statement reads, in part.

“As always, VPD will respond to emergency calls from beaches and will assist park rangers as required. Police will patrol beaches as part of normal operations as we have since 2003.”

The statement goes on to say that the VPD received extra funding to provide enforcement support during the pilot period, but “patrolling beaches for non-emergency alcohol-related issues is best addressed by park rangers.”

The added patrols related to the alcohol on beaches program are ending, but normal VPD patrols on ATVs on beaches appear to be continuing, and the funding fight between Digby and Sim seems largely unrelated.

“VPD and park board staff will be working together to assess if any changes to resourcing are required throughout the summer and will make operational changes if needed,” the statement reads.