As soon as Jim Chu announced his retirement from the Vancouver police force, people started wondering if he's planning to enter federal politics.

Only 11 months ago, the Vancouver police board granted his request for a two-year contract extension until August 2017.

For Chu to announce his retirement today suggests that he already has another job in mind. Born in 1959, he's in his mid 50s.

Meanwhile, the Conservatives are seeking a star to run in Vancouver Granville.

If Chu hitches himself to Prime Minister Stephen Harper, it will probably deliver the new riding to the Conservatives.

As president of the Canadian Association of Police Chiefs, Chu urged the federal government to let officers hand out tickets to people with small amounts of marijuana.

This proposal could be pivotal in the next federal election campaign. That's because Harper and the Conservatives could easily adopt it to blunt Liberal Leader Justin Trudeau's call for legalizing pot.

If young people are ticketed, they don't get criminal records. This is something that would soften the party's image with wealthy parents and libertarians who might ordinarily favour the Conservatives. But this policy would also allow police officers to shake down people to selectively enforce marijuana laws, pleasing the Conservatives' law-and-order base.

Chu would be the perfect candidate to articulate such a plan. His presence on the Conservative slate would also help Vancouver South MP Wai Young, who's seeking reelection against former VPD gang-squad member Harjit Sajjan, who's running for the Liberals.

It's conceivable that Chu could run for the Liberals in Vancouver Kingsway or Vancouver East, though this is a less likely scenario. I base this on Chu publicly endorsing the Conservatives' controversial Internet-surveillance legislation in 2012 when it was opposed by almost everyone else. Harper and former public safety minister Vic Toews probably appreciated his support.

Cops sometimes flame out in politics

Former police officers have a spotty record in Canadian politics.

Julian Fantino, a former Toronto police chief, has been a disaster as Harper's minister of veteran's affairs.

Former West Vancouver police chief Kash Heed didn't seek reelection as a Liberal MLA after his campaign manager, Barinder Sall, was convicted of violating the Election Act. Sall later turned on Heed, releasing a flood of damaging emails and documents, leading to calls for his resignation.

Former Mountie Amrik Virk was caught in a scandal not long after becoming B.C.'s minister of advanced education. Premier Christy Clark shuffled him into a new portfolio after revelations of his involvement in violating provincial compensation guidelines while serving on the board of Kwantlen Polytechnic University.

Another former Mountie and chief coroner Larry Campbell also had a rough time in politics after being elected mayor of Vancouver in 2002. His party split apart and he didn't seek reelection after being appointed to the Senate by then prime minister Paul Martin.

Some former cops have had more successful careers as elected officials. Doug MacKay-Dunn, a former VPD officer, is in his fourth term on District of North Vancouver council. 

Another former VPD cop, Jack Froese, was reelected mayor of the Township of Langley last year. And former Mountie Rich Coleman has risen to deputy premier in the B.C. Liberal government.

In the last Surrey election, one cop, Kal Dosanjh, was defeated whereas a former Mountie, Dave Woods, was elected to council.

Today, the focus is going to be on Chu's record as police chief. And it's been quite impressive. There were only six murders in the city in 2013, compared to 25 in Surrey.

Over the years, Chu has come across as a fairly liberal-minded chief, forging strong relations with leaders in the LGBT community and supporting the VPD's progressive stance on the only legal supervised-injection site, sex workers, and marijuana dispensaries.

He's also managed to commandeer a huge budget from city council and there's been no pressure on the VPD to make cutbacks after the Olympics, even though the crime rate has fallen significantly.

But just because he did well as a chief is no guarantee of future success if he's ever elected to Parliament. For proof of that, look no further than Fantino and Heed.