A Vancouver Police Department directive mandates that other employees must report potential conflicts of interest once they learn of them.DARRYL DYCK/The Canadian Press
The Vancouver Police Department overhauled its rules on romantic relationships within the force after Constable Nicole Chan’s suicide, a coroner’s inquest into her 2019 death heard during the final day of testimony.
The rules that came into effect July, 2021, require any officer in a relationship to disclose it to their supervisor, Christine McLean, the force’s civilian director of labour and employee relations, testified Tuesday. The directive also mandates that other employees must report these potential conflicts of interest once they learn of them, she added.
But, Ms. McLean told the jurors at the Burnaby, B.C., hearing that there are no specific rules in cases where a high-ranking officer is having a sexual relationship with a junior colleague who is supervised by the senior officer’s friends within the department.
One of the lawyers at the inquest noted that Constable Chan had complained that her alleged abuser, former sergeant David Van Patten of the human-resources department, was connected to many other senior officers.
Ms. McLean said the rules do not specifically cover this, but the policy broadly covers all personal relationships.
Over the past week, the inquest has heard testimony that Constable Chan, who joined the force at 19, had a history of mental-health issues and potential suicide attempts before inappropriate relationships with two senior officers, including Mr. Van Patten.
A superintendent with the force testified that Constable Chan told her that Mr. Van Patten had taken a screen recording of another member’s phone and threatened to send the video to Constable Chan’s then-husband.
Her former psychologist also testified that she was coping with increased post-traumatic stress disorder symptoms after making the complaints against Mr. Van Patten and she felt rejected and criticized by co-workers.
On Monday, Vancouver Police Sergeant Corey Bech testified that her relationships are still a topic of conversation in his department.
“I know for a fact, she’s a topic of conversation today, with myself being included in that unfortunately,” he said. “That part of our work culture is not healthy, but very difficult to control.”
Last week, Randy Mackoff, a clinical psychologist for the department, testified that Constable Chan had told him about past suicide attempts, but had never disclosed to him any misconduct by other police officers in the department. Instead, he said, the information about the misconduct came “primarily from press reports.”
On Tuesday, Ms. McLean said the new policy on workplace relationships was circulated throughout the force’s e-mail system and all employees were prompted to read through it and sign it.
A civil lawsuit filed on behalf of her family last year says that around January, 2016, Constable Chan originally approached Mr. Van Patten to “help her in her pursuit” of a position on the Emergency Response Team, akin to the SWAT team in U.S. departments, and claims he began extorting her around July that same year.
The inquiry adjourned Tuesday afternoon, with its five-member jury expected to issue recommendations as early as Wednesday that could prevent deaths in similar circumstances.
With a report from The Canadian Press