Stephen Harrison
@stephenharrison.bsky.social
Victoria, B.C. needsmorespikes.com
Went back further. An officer looked up their tenant. Another looked up a contractor. One officer "had a habit of running names of friends and relatives." Another looked up their ex 20 times. All told that's about 50 officers with substantiated complaints of misusing police databases. But why audit?
![B.C. police database misuse, substantiated complaints
2016: Vancouver PD officer “searched police databases for a purpose unrelated to duties as a police officer” and “improperly disclosed confidential information acquired from police databases to a member of the public”
2016: Transit Police officer “used the PRIME database system, without permission, to gather statistics for their master’s degree course”
2015: Transit Police officer “queried their tenant using police databases”
2015: New Westminster PD officer “used police databases to query one of [their] contractors and the licence plate of a vehicle being used by the contractors” and “disclosed [to a member of the property management company] that a vehicle being driven by one of the contractors was uninsured and that one of the contractors had a criminal record”
2015: Delta PD, three officers “conducted improper police database queries in relation to an off duty police officer’s call for assistance” and “improperly disclosed the information obtained”
2015: Abbotsford PD officer “accessed police databases for purposes unrelated to his/her duties as a police officer.”
2014: Delta PD officer “queried police databases by means of a mobile data terminal for a purpose unrelated to the performance of the officer’s duties”
2014: Delta PD officer “accessed the PRIME database for personal reasons”](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:x2ojtemkdgeywq2ua6fx7gcu/bafkreiackla4kywhszyocbn56e4je3thfzwieesqttu4rh4ybrtf64opta@jpeg)
December 19, 2025 at 6:14 AM
Went back further. An officer looked up their tenant. Another looked up a contractor. One officer "had a habit of running names of friends and relatives." Another looked up their ex 20 times. All told that's about 50 officers with substantiated complaints of misusing police databases. But why audit?
Here are excerpts from OPCC reports of BC officers caught misusing police databases. They looked up family members and exes, a woman an officer "was interested in," a nurse, and a convocation speaker. Some officers used databases for a "business venture." But VicPD doesn't audit database use. (2/2)
![B.C. police database misuse, substantiated complaints
2023: Port Moody PD officer “requested a colleague to query a particular license plate on a police database without disclosing the query was for a personal reason”
2023: Abbotsford PD officer “used police databases to query a university convocation guest speaker who had made remarks about a police incident that the speaker had been involved in”
2023: Abbotsford PD officer “queried their spouse for reasons unrelated to the performance of the member’s duties”
2022: VPD officer “used a police database to query the license plate of a driver that had been involved in a traffic altercation with the member’s spouse”
2021: VPD officer “queried the name of the VCH nurse on a police database for a purpose unrelated to the member’s duties”
2021: Saanich PD officer “used police databases to run checks on his former partner and members of her family”
2020: VPD special municipal constable “queried a person on a police database for reasons unrelated to [their] duties”
2020: VPD officer “conduct[ed] a query using police database for information unrelated to an investigation or duties as a police officer”
2019: VPD officer “used a police database to query the residence of a relative who was under criminal investigation”
2019: VPD officer “queried [a] complainant’s name using a police database for reasons not associated with their duties as a police officer”](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:x2ojtemkdgeywq2ua6fx7gcu/bafkreia7y6turgouzjefchk56h4tmp3z6srt2xtk56qj4kostvt5bgoy34@jpeg)
December 19, 2025 at 4:13 AM
Here are excerpts from OPCC reports of BC officers caught misusing police databases. They looked up family members and exes, a woman an officer "was interested in," a nurse, and a convocation speaker. Some officers used databases for a "business venture." But VicPD doesn't audit database use. (2/2)
Reposted by Stephen Harrison
When I went to the energy ministry for a response to the story I was writing, I was told some of the info I'd received should have been redacted because it was commercially sensitive
They asked me not to write the story or share the info
They deleted the package from the public FOI request log
They asked me not to write the story or share the info
They deleted the package from the public FOI request log
December 19, 2025 at 12:28 AM
When I went to the energy ministry for a response to the story I was writing, I was told some of the info I'd received should have been redacted because it was commercially sensitive
They asked me not to write the story or share the info
They deleted the package from the public FOI request log
They asked me not to write the story or share the info
They deleted the package from the public FOI request log
Thanks I'll check it out! I was also just looking back at this budget graph I made. A 50% budget increase in five years if they get their way for 2026! Defunded indeed. bsky.app/profile/step...
To put VicPD’s demands in context, its proposed 2026 budget outpaces inflation for the last five years by $19 million. Victoria spent 23% of its 2025 budget on police. Councillors’ unflinching support for police comes at the expense of services and things like housing that actually keep people safe.
December 17, 2025 at 1:54 AM
Thanks I'll check it out! I was also just looking back at this budget graph I made. A 50% budget increase in five years if they get their way for 2026! Defunded indeed. bsky.app/profile/step...
(also, obviously, defund the police and reallocate their resources to housing and other things that keep people safe, and one might find that those OT costs magically go down!)
December 17, 2025 at 1:36 AM
(also, obviously, defund the police and reallocate their resources to housing and other things that keep people safe, and one might find that those OT costs magically go down!)
I hadn't seen that, thanks for sharing! They're "suffering the effects" of the defund movement, eh (budget increases every year). And Victoria + Esquimalt is the third most heavily policed city in the country, so another read of the chief's position is that they're bad at managing their resources.
December 17, 2025 at 1:36 AM
I hadn't seen that, thanks for sharing! They're "suffering the effects" of the defund movement, eh (budget increases every year). And Victoria + Esquimalt is the third most heavily policed city in the country, so another read of the chief's position is that they're bad at managing their resources.
VicPD says no live stream of the police board tonight due to technical difficulties. They say they'll post a recording, but the last time this happened, they didn't. We'll see if it does get posted, and how timely it is if so. If it does ever go up, at least I can watch it back at double speed.
December 17, 2025 at 1:09 AM
VicPD says no live stream of the police board tonight due to technical difficulties. They say they'll post a recording, but the last time this happened, they didn't. We'll see if it does get posted, and how timely it is if so. If it does ever go up, at least I can watch it back at double speed.
Since they started meeting the new legal requirement to post public agendas a week in advance, they’ve only posted single page agendas. Before that, the last single page agenda I can see was in October 2015. Meeting the letter of the law, not the spirit, with the most opaque agendas in 10 years.
December 17, 2025 at 12:46 AM
Since they started meeting the new legal requirement to post public agendas a week in advance, they’ve only posted single page agendas. Before that, the last single page agenda I can see was in October 2015. Meeting the letter of the law, not the spirit, with the most opaque agendas in 10 years.
They modified the agenda after initially posting it to add the final two items of correspondence and all page numbers, but they never posted any pages beyond the first. So who knows what specific things they’ll be talking about.
December 17, 2025 at 12:46 AM
They modified the agenda after initially posting it to add the final two items of correspondence and all page numbers, but they never posted any pages beyond the first. So who knows what specific things they’ll be talking about.
Shortly after VicPD answered the question about the discrepancy for CHEK, VicPD emailed me to say they couldn't answer the same question for me. I'd asked them about it weeks prior, and they'd told me they were working on a response. They did say I was "welcome to submit another FOI"!
December 16, 2025 at 12:53 AM
Shortly after VicPD answered the question about the discrepancy for CHEK, VicPD emailed me to say they couldn't answer the same question for me. I'd asked them about it weeks prior, and they'd told me they were working on a response. They did say I was "welcome to submit another FOI"!
Maybe running for mayor? I've heard that rumour from multiple people now but who knows. For now just a rumour! It is my opinion that his public record should be disqualifying.
December 10, 2025 at 6:09 AM
Maybe running for mayor? I've heard that rumour from multiple people now but who knows. For now just a rumour! It is my opinion that his public record should be disqualifying.