West Vancouver Police Department’s new chief didn’t plan on becoming a cop. He just got waylaid on his way to becoming an accountant.
Unlike most chiefs, Chief Const. John Lo grew up on the North Shore, graduating from Handsworth Secondary. While putting himself through university, he worked numerous jobs in West Vancouver – Flickers Video in Dundarave, Salmon House on the Hill and Park Royal White Spot, among others. He was working on his B.A. in psychology and had plans to become an accountant, until he started taking calculus classes. After his sister directed him to a story in the North Shore News about WVPD seeking volunteer reserve constables, he signed up in 1995 and got hired on as a regular member the following year.
“I didn't mean to get into policing. It's not something that I dreamed of as a kid. But certainly once I got into it, I really enjoyed it and really enjoyed the people I work with here,” he said.
Since then, he’s served on the patrol unit, done surveillance, been promoted to major crimes investigation as a detective, spent four years seconded to homicide investigations, and then returned to take on managerial positions. While promoting an officer through the ranks from constable to chief all within the same municipal force would once have been normal, it is rare nowadays. His is the first internal promotion to chief in 17 years.
As chief, Lo will answer to the civilian police board, which is chaired by West Vancouver Mayor Mary-Ann Booth.
Within the force, Lo said he will be making a point of seeing that his officers and civilian staff are well taken care of.
“I recognize that these are challenging times to be working in the public safety profession, no matter what your role is,” he said. “It's important to me that we take care of our staff’s mental health and wellness, because all of that stuff, it overlaps into all areas of our enterprise – staffing, culture and service delivery.”
Lo acknowledged he is taking over at a time of closer public scrutiny of police and confrontation of systemic racism. But he sees this as an opportunity to shore up what can be a fragile trust.
“My opinion is that we should be highly scrutinized because the public has graciously lent us their trust. So we are ultimately accountable to the public,” he said. “We have to safeguard that trust. And the only way to do that is to be open and honest with ourselves and to look for ways that we can be better.”
Looking back over 10 years of records with 11,000 to 12,000 calls per year, Lo said he is proud there has not been one instance of a West Vancouver officer being disciplined for excessive use of force.
“All the public is really asking for of the police is that when we are called upon for assistance, that we show up and we demonstrate a level of empathy and respect.”
When it comes to new initiatives, Lo said he will soon be starting a new strategic plan that will guide the WVPD until 2026. And he intends to build that plan with plenty of input from the people who will be affected by it.
“It's a pivotal moment in time for policing, I intend to be reaching out a lot into our community, and getting some critical feedback on how our organization can do better,” he said.
Lo said he also intends to carry on his predecessor Chief Const. Len Goerke’s legacy of building closer relationships in the community, including with the Squamish Nation.
“He really, I would say, professionalized our organization, matured our organization and made it more current – really steadied the ship,” he said.
