West Vancouver police chief Kash Heed resigns, but why?

The West Vancouver police board has issued a statement confirming the resignation of the local police chief, Kash Heed.

But there has still been no explanation provided for why Heed, a well-known former Vancouver police superintendent and inspector, stepped down one-and-a-half years into his five-year contract.

The normally loquacious Heed has not responded to an e-mail message left by the Straight.

In the absence of any concrete explanations, here are some theories:

a) He plans on running in the provincial election.  "Right now, I'm committed to the West Vancouver Police Department," Heed told the North Shore News last month.  "I'm not going to comment further on that one."

 b) Heed was too liberal for West Vancouver and particularly, for North Shore News columnist Trevor Lautens. Heed killed the controversial Drug Abuse Resistance Education program, which is popular with the RCMP but which has been disparaged by Loyala University researcher Dennis Rosenbaum  for being a waste of taxpayers' money.

c) Heed alienated the RCMP brass at "E" division by talking up the benefits of a regional police force. A regional police force means the end of lucrative RCMP contracts on the North Shore and in Burnaby, Richmond, Surrey, Coquitlam, Maple Ridge, Langley, UBC, etc., etc.

d) Maybe Attorney General Wally Oppal has created a new position for Heed in tackling gangs. It's the hottest issue on the provincial political scene, and Heed has spent a great deal of time focusing on this area as a drug cop and as the former district commander in southeast Vancouver. There's only one problem: Oppal is a prohibitionist on drugs, whereas Heed has a more nuanced view of the issue.

e) Relations with the West Vancouver Police Association had become too much  after he suggested to the North Shore News there was a culture that verged on "corruption". Two retired cops, Bob Fontaine and Doug Bruce, already weren't happy with being hauled into a disciplinary inquiry after their internal investigation failed to report that another cop who had been  arrested for impaired driving, Lisa Alford, was drinking in the West Vancouver cop shop.

I'm guessing that Heed is probably better off not having to deal with West Vancouver's conservative culture. Politics might be a  better career choice at this point in his life.

Because at the moment, there's a lack of willingness on the part of provincial politicians to face up to the  root cause of gang warfare: the war on drugs, which turns illicit substances  into such lucrative enterprises.

Comments

3 Comments

thecossack

Feb 24, 2009 at 10:54pm

Would this be 6 or e? Heed kept getting slapped down by Goldsmith-Jones, especially after his spouting in the local press. Nothing goes unless it benefits Heed according to Heed. Oppal and Heed are buddies so you can read between the lines there. Herr Heed was not in step with the union as he insisted on acting unilaterally on everything from uniforms to police cars. Los Angeles being his very favorite police department, thus the innovations resembling their operations. The activity also irked the crap out of the Mayor because everybody knows SHE is in charge of West Vancouver and its cops. Both egos did not fit in the same room.
Heed was the only candidate after the RCMP officer removed his name so I guess you get what you deserve. NEXT!!

daveA

Feb 25, 2009 at 4:47pm

I certainly hope Mr. Heed doesn't run for the libs, we have enough cops in government now. But, I do admire his attitude toward the new thinking on drugs, that is, legitimize and disable the crime factor. I believe he has stepped on a lot of toes in the police culture, over this, in that a lot of overtime is going to be lost, and lucrative security contracts will be left flapping in the wind. If he continues as a police officer, wherever, I wish him all success, as he has struck a common chord with many ciitizens.

Paul Cole

Jun 10, 2009 at 9:58pm

Whats new, another overpaid ex-cop in the rat pack of politics. The whole system is saturated by crooked lawyers and dishonest cops, makes you sick and who protects us from them?