Dave Jones retired from the Vancouver police two years ago, but he remains plugged into the blue grapevine. According to Jones, a 30-year veteran of the force, the word is that at least four insiders are gunning to replace Jamie Graham, who will step down as Vancouver's chief constable on August 22.

"I've heard that there's three deputies and one superintendent," Jones told the Georgia Straight. "In the police world, rumours travel fast."

Jones, who is currently director of the Downtown Vancouver Business Improvement Association's crime-prevention services, declined to provide names but he strongly backed the appointment by the Vancouver police board of an internal candidate. "Any candidate from outside is a risky proposition," he said. "What you get with the inside candidate is all the pluses and minuses."

Graham, who announced last month that he will not seek a renewal of his five-year contract with the city, has four deputies: Bob Rich, Jim Chu, Doug LePard, and Bob Rolls. There are two officers with the rank of superintendent in the force: Kash Heed and Steve Sweeney.

"The deputies are not announcing their decisions until the job is actually posted," VPD media coordinator Laurel Kennedy told the Straight.

The police board has engaged headhunting firm Pinton Forrest & Madden to conduct the search for a new chief. A media statement released by Vancouver mayor Sam Sullivan, in his capacity as chair of the police board, noted: "We are expecting some strong candidates from within the Vancouver Police Department to apply."

The board's policy-and-procedure manual could be instructive about what is desired in an applicant. It states that anyone occupying the post of chief constable must "be sensitive to police issues and development which may impact or require coordination with City of Vancouver, officials or resources".

The same manual reads: "The Chief Constable therefore must maintain a relationship with the City and the Mayor that fosters timely, informative communication exchanges and avoids surprises."

The board's selection committee, Sullivan aide Anna Lucarino informed the Straight, will be composed of vice-chair Dale Parker and members Mary McNeil, Patti Marfleet, and Glenn Wong.

Whoever succeeds Graham will face significant challenges, according to lawyer Cameron Ward and Insp. John de Haas. The two, however, framed such challenges from different perspectives.

Ward, who has handled misconduct cases filed against Vancouver police officers, told the Straight that the department needs to be transformed into a "professional force worthy of public respect".

"VPD members must be trained to recognize their legal obligation to treat all members of the public, especially those who have been marginalized, with dignity," Ward said.

Ward noted that he speaks from both personal and professional experience. In 2002, he was arrested, strip-searched, and detained for four-and-a-half hours on suspicion that he was going to throw a pie at then–prime minister Jean ChrÉtien, who was visiting Vancouver. Ward sued the police, and the B.C. Supreme Court, in a decision early this year, awarded him $10,100 in damages.

De Haas heads the VPD's diversity and aboriginal-policing section. He described the issues facing the department as "complex" but argued that effective community relations can help address a number of policing issues.

"Building strong community relations is a challenge," de Haas told the Straight. "A lot of our policing issues have to do with understanding some of the public-safety issues that communities have."

De Haas cited as an example the case of aboriginal youths, who for a long time have been wary of the police but are now slowly warming to efforts by the VPD to reach out. He also pointed to the gang problem, which he said can be partly addressed if police can work more closely with the community, and to the need to build stronger ties with different ethnic communities.

"We need not to act unilaterally, but we need to collaborate with that community to resolve their safety issues," de Haas said. "We need to put the effort into working together. It's not something we can deal with through the criminal-justice system alone."