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Euan Thomson
@drugdatadecoded.ca

🧵 Short timeline of political endorsements by police 1. 2022: Vancouver police drive moral panic on stranger attacks, though their data showed steep decline. 2. Oct 2022: Ken Sim gets first-ever endorsement from head of Vancouver police association, Ralph Kaisers. www.ctvnews.ca/vancouver/ar...

ctvnews.ca‘Fear and anxiety’: The untold story of the Vancouver Police Department’s stranger assault scareInternal emails obtained through Freedom of Information requests shed light on the Vancouver Police Department's media strategy related to stranger assaults ahead of the city's 2022 election.
Euan Thomson
@drugdatadecoded.ca

3. Ken Sim wins the Vancouver election on a promise to hire 200 cops, at a pivotal moment for policing: BC was three months out from the country's first drug decriminalization pilot. 4. Vancouver police sabotage decrim pilot, increasing drug confiscations. vancouver.citynews.ca/2026/09/09/s...

vancouver.citynews.caPolice drug seizures increased during first year of decriminalization, SFU study findsA study released Wednesday by Simon Fraser University (SFU) found that police drug seizures increased during the first year of British Columbia's drug decriminalization pilot project.
Euan Thomson
@drugdatadecoded.ca

5. 2025-26: Other police associations realize they can make endorsements as well, and start doing so. The idea spreads to Calgary and then to Toronto (today). www.cbc.ca/news/canada/... www.thestar.com/news/gta/how...

cbc.caPolice union endorses Sonya Sharp for mayor, Communities First party in 'rare' move | CBC NewsThe Calgary Police Association has endorsed Sonya Sharp and Communities First candidates on behalf of its approximately 2,300 members — breaking from a decade-long practice of staying out of local pol...

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Euan Thomson
@drugdatadecoded.ca

6. 2025: Ralph Kaisers, Vancouver police association head, tries to run in Sim's party in byelection, loses badly. 7. Last week: Vancouver police seem to realize they and Sim need to get some distance, and decide not to endorse anyone for mayor. 8. Good luck Ken Sim! www.ctvnews.ca/vancouver/ar...

ctvnews.caVancouver Police Union won’t endorse a mayoral candidate this municipal electionThe Vancouver Police Union says it won’t be endorsing a mayoral candidate in this year’s municipal election.