A Deputy Chief with the Vancouver Police Department will be leaving the force to become the new Chief of Metro Vancouver’s Transit Police.
VPD Deputy Chief Doug LePard has been a member of the Vancouver Police Department since 1981 and currently commands the department’s Investigation Division. The senior officer will retire after 35 years of dedicated service to the VPD and the City of Vancouver to become the top cop at Transit.
“I am proud of my 35-year career in the VPD, where I leave many valued friends and colleagues” says Deputy LePard. “I feel extremely privileged to have been selected as the new Chief Officer of the Transit Police, and to continue the superb work done by former Chief Officer Dubord and Acting Chief Kross. I am excited about this opportunity to bring all that I have learned about leadership in policing to a progressive police agency, and together with TransLink provide safety to all those who use the transit system.”
“Deputy Chief Doug LePard is one of the brightest and most accomplished police officers I have ever known,” says VPD Chief Adam Palmer. “He has left an indelible mark on the VPD and has provided outstanding service to our city over the past 35 years. The Metro Vancouver Transit Police are very fortunate to have hired someone of such high calibre. I wish him all the best and look forward to working with him in his new capacity.”
A start date for the new Chief at Transit is yet to be set, but will be announced in the near future.
Deputy Chief Constable Doug LePard, O.O.M.
Doug LePard has been a member of the Vancouver Police Department since 1981. He currently commands the Investigation Division, where he has worked at four different ranks in multiple assignments, including working in an undercover unit, and as a serious crimes detective and sergeant in several areas. He previously commanded the Operations Division for several years, where he had previously been the Inspector in charge of the Downtown Eastside. He holds a B.A. in Criminology from Simon Fraser University and certificates from Queen’s University and Harvard. He has considerable investigative experience, and has presented on related issues in Canada, the U.S., and Europe.
In 1996, he created and led the VPD’s Domestic Violence & Criminal Harassment Unit, partnering investigators with community counsellors for domestic violence investigations. He has written or co-written several articles and book chapters on assessing risk in stalking cases, preventing wrongful convictions, serial killer investigations, managing change in police organizations, and others.
In 2010 his comprehensive review of the Missing Women/Pickton serial killing investigation was released, and he subsequently gave evidence at the Missing Women Commission of Inquiry for 14 days. His review was described by the Missing Women Commission of Inquiry report as an “unprecedented self-examination by police and a rare exemplar of how you can do [an] internal autopsy and try to figure out what went wrong so that it won’t happen again in the future.” The Inquiry report also identified the VPD as a “best practice learning organization” and attributed that in part to the leadership of Deputy Chief LePard.
He has received many commendations and awards, including an Attorney General’s award for service to victims, a Lieutenant Governor’s award for saving a drowning man, and an award from the Ending the Violence Association of BC “For Outstanding Contributions Towards Ending Violence Against Women in BC.” In 2012, he was invested as an Officer of the Order of Merit for the Police Forces by the Governor General of Canada, and in 2013, he was awarded the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee Medal.
