Jim Chu

Jim Chu, COM is a former-Chief Constable of the Vancouver Police Department (VPD).

In 1973 as a 14-year old Paperboy, he confronted by the Riley Park gang as he recalled:

Chu stated that his experiences with the Riley Park gang led to his interest in becoming a policeman.

Chu graduated from Sir Charles Tupper Secondary School, where he played rugby, in 1978.

A fellow alumni of Sir Charles Tupper was the gangster Bindy Johal, a man whom Chu was to pursue as a policeman.

Joining the police department a year after his high-school graduation, he continued his education at the same time, earning a Bachelor of Business Administration from Simon Fraser University and an MBA from the University of British Columbia.

His police training includes the FBI Advanced SWAT course and the FBI National Executive Institute.

Chu has served in a number of investigative and support roles.

The journalist Jerry Langton wrote that many people in the Lower Mainland were "appalled" by the casual indifference shown by the police to the disappearance of women from the Downtown Eastside along with the way that police had denied in the 1990s that there was even a serial killer at large in the Lower Mainland.

The fact that Picton was white while many of his victims were First Nations women led many to accuse the Vancouver police of racism and sexism.

As Sergeant in charge of recruiting, he developed the VPD's applicant guide and the department's first website in 1996.

In 1997, he became an Inspector, and since then has supervised a number of transitions in the VPD's electronic communications technology, including the introduction of its current radio system and mobile computing system.

The lifting of the publication ban revealed that a woman was stabbed by Picton on his farm in 1997, but managed to escape.

The police dismissed her allegations of attempted murder as the ravings of a drug addict from the Downtown Eastside.

In 1999 he received the Super Trustee award from the British Columbia Library Trustees Association.

Likewise, another woman who escaped from Picton's farm in 1999 stated to the police that he had a freezer full of human flesh in his farmhouse, which was likewise dismissed as the ravings of another drug addict from the Downtown Eastside.

In 2001, he was given command of District 4, which roughly corresponds to the Southwest quarter of Vancouver.

He is the author of a 2001 book, Law Enforcement Information Technology.

Chu became a deputy chief in 2003, in charge of the Support Services division, which handles human resources, information technology, planning and communications.

It also includes the department's Financial Services Section, and he has earned recognition for his role in dealing with the department's cost overruns.

On June 21, 2007, Chu was named as the successor of Chief Constable Jamie Graham.

In July 2007, he was placed in charge of the Operations Support division, which oversees criminal intelligence, emergency response and the gang and drug squads.

In May 2007, the Governor General of Canada awarded Chu the Order of Merit of Police Forces for service beyond the call of duty.

On June 21, 2007, Chu was named as the successor of Chief Constable Jamie Graham, who was set to retire in August.

Chu assumed command of the department on August 14, the day after the police fatally shot Paul Boyd on Granville Street.

Through the investigation of Picton's killings took place prior to Chu becoming police chief in 2007, he found himself facing a firestorm of criticism when the publication ban was lifted in 2010.

In 2010, he was named one of 25 Transformation Canadians by The Globe and Mail/La Presse, and received an Outstanding Alumni Award from Simon Fraser University.

Chu served as Chief Constable during the 2010 Winter Olympics and as riots erupted in downtown Vancouver at the conclusion of game seven of the 2011 Stanley Cup finals.

During his time as Chief Constable, Chu found himself defending the Vancouver police department against charges of racism and misogyny as social activists accused the police department of being indifferent to the rapes and murders of the impoverished, often First Nations, women of the Downtown Eastside.

On 30 July 2010, the Supreme Court of Canada lifted the publication ban imposed in 2002 relating to the prosecution of the serial killer Robert Picton who killed 49 women.

On 15 September 2010, Ashley Mackiskinic, a First Nations woman and a drug addict was found dead after falling to her death from the fifth floor of the Regent Hotel on the Downtown Eastside.

A number of social activists stated that Mackinskinic was murdered.

The majority of the drugs of the Downtown Eastside are sold by drug dealers working for the Hells Angels who are known to use brutal methods to punish drug addicts who fall into arrears such as rape, beatings, dismemberment and murder.

The police stated that there was no conclusive evidence that Mackiskinic was pushed to her death, and noted that the corner's report revealed that Mackinskinic had an "elevated level" of alcohol in her blood at the time of her death along a "potentially lethal" amount of cocaine.

On January 23, 2015, it was announced Chu was planning to retire after a 36-year career with Vancouver Police and he did officially do so on May 6, 2015, upon the swearing-in of his successor, Adam Palmer.

Chu grew up in East Vancouver, the second oldest of four children of immigrants from Shanghai.

Chu often faced the Riley Park gang when growing up.

He stated:

In 2015, he was promoted to the rank of Commander of the Order of Merit.

In May 2015, he became the first municipal police senior officer in B.C. to be granted a Commission.