Then–Vancouver police chief Jamie Graham rebuffed an offer by Pivot Legal Society to withdraw its complaint against the police department, in exchange for an apology regarding alleged police abuses against poor people in the Downtown Eastside.

Pivot founder John Richardson disclosed this detail to the Straight a day after the Vancouver police department formally apologized on November 5 to residents who had grievances against officers working in the neighbourhood.

"We had some discussions through the legal counsel of Jamie Graham back, I think it was February, and we had offered to withdraw the complaint if there's an apology delivered, and that was rejected," Richardson said.

Since the recent apology, Pivot has withdrawn its complaint that officers below the rank of Graham didn't cooperate in the RCMP's investigation into the supposed police abuses. Graham, who retired this August, remains under investigation by Delta police Chief Jim Cessford with respect to the portion of the Pivot complaint that Graham obstructed the RCMP probe.

Richardson also said that talks with the VPD about an apology started in September, about a month after then–deputy chief Jim Chu replaced Graham.

"The new chief [Chu] has been critical to it," Richardson said. "I don't think it would have happened without him. I think he definitely views the Downtown Eastside in a different way than the past chief. He sees the social problems and the limits on the powers of the police to deal with those."

Link: Pivot complaint - VPD acknowledgment [pdf file]