Thirty-Three Years: The Unfiltered Memoir of a Cop by Rob G. Rothwell

Author:Rob G. Rothwell [Rothwell, Rob G.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Biography & Autobiography, Law Enforcement, Personal Memoirs, True Crime
ISBN: 9781039123441
Publisher: FriesenPress
Published: 2021-11-28T00:00:00+00:00

32

THE DARKEST DAYS

Chief Constable Jamie H. Graham led the Vancouver Police Department from 2002 to 2007. Graham came to the VPD after thirty-four years of service in the RCMP, his last posting as chief superintendent of the Surrey Detachment in British Columbia. Prior to his appointment in 2002 as the VPD’s new chief, I had never met Graham, a tall, imposing man, looking somewhat like an amalgam of Clint Eastwood in Dirty Harry and Christopher Lloyd, who played Jim Ignatowski in the sitcom Taxi. From my perspective at the time, Graham was an outsider, and I wondered how his RCMP culture would fit within a municipal police service. I knew that we’d have to work closely together, so it wouldn’t be long before the question would be answered.

I was the inspector in-charge of our Internal Investigation Section (IIS), and by delegation, the department’s discipline authority, which meant that the chief and I would be collaborating on police-misconduct files. Shortly after a formal introduction, I saw Chief Graham depart headquarters in an older Ford Taurus sedan that he had been temporarily assigned. I emailed him, writing, “Hey, Chief, you’re really stylin’ in that Taurus.” I figured it would be good to test his sense of humour. He got a good laugh out of the email, and at that point, I knew it was all going to work out; however, the next day, the chasm between federal policing and municipal practices became abundantly clear.

I had popped by his seventh-floor-view office in the headquarters building to review a conduct complaint with him that may have had some serious undertones. As a municipal police agency, all conduct complaints are investigated pursuant to regulatory legislation contained within the BC Police Act. Every step in this fairly complex process has to be followed precisely and within certain time limits. Documents are to be served and update reports submitted to the complainant and the Police Complaint Commissioner every thirty days.

Jamie listened intently to my brief explanation of the case at hand, then exercised his authority. “Bring him up here; I’ll give him both barrels and send him home.”

Whoa. “Not so fast, Chief,” I stammered, and explained that, as municipal cops, we’re subject to the arduous terms of the Police Act, and there are critical steps to execute beforehand. With that, I told him, I’d get the investigation rolling.

The BC Police Act was new to Chief Graham, but he caught on immediately. My investigative team and I met with him every Wednesday morning to update him on the files under investigation and seek his counsel and direction. He always remained cool-headed and could synthesize a barrage of information rapidly. There came a day, though, in which I thought his unruffled demeanour would vaporize.

I had received an early morning call from Tom Stamatakis, the president of the Vancouver Police Union. He asked me if I was sitting down. I knew this wasn’t going to be good . . . and it turned into my darkest day as the inspector running the Internal Investigation Section.

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