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Indigenous Day (Part 2): Police chief says VPD values its relationship with Indigenous peoples

As Vancouver Police Chief Adam Palmer tells it, less than a month ago his officers were viewed by many residents as heroes for being frontline workers during a pandemic.

As Vancouver Police Chief Adam Palmer tells it, less than a month ago his officers were viewed by many residents as heroes for being frontline workers during a pandemic. Thank-you cards were being dropped off at the main precinct in appreciation for their work. Officers were being greeted warmly in the streets. Palmer discussed this topic as an extension of a wide-ranging interview focused on the VPD’s relationship with Indigenous peoples in advance of National Indigenous Peoples Day, June 21. The relationship has long been tested, with the death of Mi’kmaq First Nation member Frank Paul in 1998 to the department’s inaction on serial killer Robert Pickton’s murdering of several Indigenous women as examples. Recent events have strained that relationship. Palmer’s interview was one of three Glacier Media conducted recently via Zoom to gauge the state of Indigenous peoples’ lives and issues in British Columbia in 2020. B.C. Regional Chief Terry Teegee of the B.C. Assembly of First Nations and Scott Fraser, B.C. Minister of Indigenous Relations and Reconciliation, also participated in separate interviews, where policing and government affairs were discussed. The following interview was condensed and edited for length and clarity.