Mayor Denies Involvement in $5M VPD Downtown Eastside Crackdown Amid Transparency Concerns

A controversial $5-million Vancouver Police Department (VPD) campaign targeting crime in the Downtown Eastside has raised questions about who authorized it — and whether proper procedures were followed.

The initiative, called Task Force Barrage, was announced earlier this year as a joint VPD-City Council effort. But now, Mayor Ken Sim says the project was led solely by police.

“Coun. Fry’s insinuations that direction for Barrage came from the mayor’s office is false,” Sim said in a statement. “To be clear, Task Force Barrage is a VPD-led initiative that I fully support.”

The denial comes after Coun. Pete Fry filed a freedom of information (FOI) request, seeking clarity on how the initiative came to be — especially after VPD Board Chair Frank Chong revealed the board hadn’t been informed before the project was announced publicly.

“There seems to be no paper trail,” Fry said. “We need to know that authorization for police operations is not coming out of the back room in the mayor’s office.”

Budget Without a Vote?

The confusion deepened when a VPD spokesperson said the “joint initiative” label was used because city council had committed to funding the project. However, no formal vote to approve the funding has taken place.

The murky origins of Task Force Barrage are now fueling broader concerns about the VPD’s autonomy, police oversight, and how public safety dollars are allocated without clear public debate.

Larger Debate on Policing & Public Safety

The conversation surrounding Barrage ties into a wider civic debate over Vancouver’s public safety strategy, especially in communities like the Downtown Eastside where tensions around policing vs. social supports remain high.

City officials and community advocates are calling for more transparency, while the mayor's office maintains its support for the initiative — just not its origination.