Vancouver Police Chief Adam Palmer retiring after a decade at the helm

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This article was published 18/02/2025 (295 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

VANCOUVER – Vancouver Chief Const. Adam Palmer has announced he will retire at the end of April after 37 years with the department, including almost a decade in the top job. 

Palmer announced his decision next to Vancouver Mayor Ken Sim at police headquarters, saying the decision and timing were “100 per cent” on his own terms. 

The chief said he had spent his entire policing career in Vancouver, starting in 1987 and spending 13 years as a patrol officer before working his way up to the top job in May 2015. 

“As a kid I’ve always wanted to be a cop, I’ve spent my entire 37-plus-year career here as a member of the Vancouver Police Department, starting in my early 20s as a patrol officer in East Vancouver,” and eventually working in all three divisions of the department, he said.

He said his career had been full of crises, challenges, laughter and tears, but it had been “incredibly rewarding,” and he would do it all over again “without thinking twice.”

He said he was confident that his successor would be one of his three deputy chief constables who he said were all present at the news conference — Steve Rai, Howard Chow and Fiona Wilson.

Palmer told the news conference “as a little bit of a teaser” that he would be doing something else after he retires on April 30, but he couldn’t say what until the information is released in the next week or so.

It was the second time that Palmer and Sim had faced a news conference together in less than a week, after an announcement about a task force to tackle crime in the Downtown Eastside.

The pair have worked closely together since Sim’s election in 2022, on issues including clearances of homeless encampments and cracking down on street disorder. 

Palmer praised the mayor on Tuesday, saying he had shown “unwavering support” and focused Vancouver back on public safety and bringing “common sense back to city hall.”

B.C. Solicitor General Mike Farnworth said at an unrelated news briefing that he had a good relationship with Palmer, who he described as “very professional,” and together they “managed to accomplish a lot.”

B.C. Premier David Eby said at the same briefing that Palmer had a “challenging job,” needing to handle multiple stakeholders and facing “probably five protests a day” in Vancouver. 

“There’s a lot of demands on the chief of police of Vancouver, and I think Adam conducted himself professionally throughout challenges,” said Eby.

The department’s executive remuneration and expenses summary says Palmer earned more than $378,000 in 2021. 

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Feb. 18, 2025.