The Vancouver Police Department has announced it will be opening a designated training academy in the Woodward’s building in Gastown. On Thursday, VPD Chief Const. Steve Rai called the decision pragmatic, adding that an academy will address deficiencies in provincial certification requirements. “It is scalable and it is a long-term solution,” he said. “Now is the time.” Mayor Ken Sim was in attendance for the announcement, and declared his full support for the initiative. “We’re moving forward because this is what real progress looks like,” he said. “Stability first, then renewal, then growth.” ‘We’re not skirting paying property taxes’ On Wednesday, city council approved an estimated $1.2 million for the creation of the VPD Police Training Academy in the former London Drugs location in the building. That funding will go toward the costs associated with leasing the estimated 27,000-square-foot space for this year and into next year, according to Rai. “That will cover heating, lighting, taxes, cleaning and we’re not skirting paying property taxes,” he said. “It’ll be within our budget.” Asked whether the VPD considered other locations, Rai said there were other spaces available, but it didn’t make sense to veer too far from Woodward’s, which already houses the VPD’s headquarters for District 5 and the Gastown Community Policing Centre. “It’s good business,” he said. “Until we get an all-purpose building in this city for fire and police, we have to do the best we can.” Developer at risk? Ian Gillespie, the founder of Westbank, which owns the building, attended the announcement but did not provide interviews to media. At one point after the announcement, Rai tapped Gillespie on the shoulder and said, “Thanks for working with us.” CTV News previously reported that sources have revealed the mayor’s chief of staff Trevor Ford told community stakeholders that Westbank could face foreclosure if the space wasn’t tenanted. Westbank has not provided comment. The mayor’s office has previously stated that a recent meeting between it, the VPD and stakeholders “included a factual overview of the challenges facing the property after the loss of London Drugs, as well as the potential benefits and implications of a training facility.” “At no point were individuals asked or required to take a side,” the statement added. “The meeting was part of a broader engagement process to share information and hear perspectives.” Recruitment capacity At the announcement, Rai reiterated that the Justice Institute of British Columbia does not have the ability to meet the complex policing needs Vancouver faces. “Multiple formal reviews of the JIBC have highlighted the issues we’re still talking about today,” he said. “These issues will not go away and have not gone away with larger class sizes.” The JIBC says it does have capacity, previously telling CTV News that “any delivery of the provincial curriculum outside the established model would require careful review to address impacts for quality assurance, recruit assessment processes, governance and oversight.” Provincial approval The training facility requires provincial approval. Nina Kreiger, the minister of public safety, said her office is still reviewing proposals from municipalities, including Vancouver and Surrey, for satellite offices tethered to the JIBC. “We’ll have an update on that soon,” she said. In a statement to CTV News, the Ministry of Public Safety and Solicitor General added that today’s announcement from the VPD and the city was a decision that relates to the department’s internal training resources. “We continue to assess the proposals submitted for satellite police academies and look forward to talking more about this soon,” the statement continued.
