A third member of the West Vancouver Police Department's senior management team has left the ranks of the top brass.
Insp. Barry Nickerson reportedly packed up his office and left the department on Friday. An announcement about Nickerson's retirement went out to other members of the police department on Saturday.
Nickerson becomes the third member of the management team to either leave or announce plans to leave in the past month.
Police Chief Peter Lepine announced in February he will not be seeking a renewal of his five-year contract and will step down as soon as the police board finds a replacement. Insp. Mike Rattray's retirement, effective at the end of March, was also announced last week.
All three retirements come in the wake of an internal employee survey that pointed to widespread dissatisfaction with upper management at the department. They also come after some police officers came forward to reporters with allegations of harassment within the department.
Lepine has said his own departure is not related to either the internal report or the harassment allegations.
West Vancouver Police Department spokesman Const. Jeff Palmer said Lepine would not be commenting on either Nickerson's or Rattray's departures.
Nickerson had been with the West Vancouver Police Department for 31 years. He was with the RC MP for seven years prior to that.
The latest departure leaves the ranks of upper managers at the police department considerably thinner. Remaining senior managers include Deputy Police Chief Jim Almas and Insp. Shane Barber.
Another long-term member of the management team, Insp. Wayne Giesbrecht, left the police department in March of 2013.
There's been no word on whether any other departures are imminent at the police department.
Last month, West Vancouver Mayor Mike Smith, who is also chair of the police board, vowed to have a new police chief in place as soon as possible.
District of West Vancouver spokesman Jeff McDonald said Smith would not comment on the latest developments.
On Feb. 26, two WorkSafeBC inspectors also went to the police department and spoke to supervisors and employees regarding the West Vancouver Police Department's harassment policy. They determined the policy is in compliance with provincial law.
Inspectors noted all employees have also recently been required to complete an online training course on harassment.
Palmer said officers in the department are continuing to serve the public, despite the public attention that's recently been focused on management problems.
"People know they have duties. They show up and are dong their job," he said. "Clearly people are concerned that there's negative reporting out in the media. There's still excellent police work being done."
