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Stephen Harrison @stephenharrison.bsky.social

The city proclaimed August 27, 2025, Del Manak’s last day, as “Del Manak Day.” If the city wants to celebrate his legacy, it’s good time to reflect on what policing actually looks like in Victoria. More details and sources in the thread. #yyj 🧵

Text over a transparent image of Del Manak holding up the proclamation of Del Manak Day. Text reads: The city proclaimed August 27, 2025 “Del Manak Day.” During his tenure as VicPD’s chief: • VicPD killed at least 4 people • VicPD disproportionately used violence against Indigenous and Black people • VicPD disproportionately labeled BIPOC people “suspects” or persons “of interest” • VicPD continued to turn people over to CBSA for deportation • VicPD officers were caught misleading the court at least 3 times • At least 14 VicPD officers retired while under investigation • VicPD used police cars to intentionally hit at least 12 people on foot, bikes, or scooters • VicPD’s budget rose from $54M in 2018 to over $82M (53%) • He said an officer accused of sexual assault was a hard worker and it wouldn’t happen again • He “reamed out” a Black Press publisher at a hockey game after unfavourable coverage of VicPD • He told the government he’d “lost confidence” in the elected school board and praised their firing • He incorrectly told the police board and councillors that “ACAB” is legally considered hate speech • He said handcuffing an Indigenous man and his 12-year-old granddaughter outside a bank was justified
aug 13, 2025, 2:34 pm • 12 6

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Stephen Harrison @stephenharrison.bsky.social

Under Del Manak, VicPD continued not to publish overall use of force data. But we know that from 2018-21, VicPD filed 3,337 use of force reports, including 1,055+ where the person was in crisis, and 570 where they said they injured someone. www.needsmorespikes.com/blog/use-of-...

Text over a transparent image of Del Manak holding up the proclamation of Del Manak Day. Text reads: The city proclaimed August 27, 2025 “Del Manak Day.” During his tenure as VicPD’s chief: From 2018-21, VicPD filed 3,337 use of force reports, including: • 1,055 reports where they said the person was in crisis • 570 reports where they said they injured someone • Including 214 where they said the person was in crisis • 913 reports where officers used “physical control hard” (e.g., punching and kicking people) • Including 284 where they said the person was in crisis • 51 reports where they used “vascular neck restraints” • Including 17 reports where they said the person was in crisis • From 2018-23, VicPD’s use of force reports included: • 779 reports where they used guns to threaten people • Including 128 reports where they said the person was in crisis • 68 reports where they fired “extended range impact weapons” • 110 reports where they tased people • Including 56 reports where they said the person was in crisis • 96 reports where they pepper sprayed people • 43 reports where they had police dogs bite people • 15 reports where they beat people with batons * The timeframes above do not cover Del Manak’s full tenure because VicPD does not publish any of the above information, and the province publishes only some of this data on a multi-year delay. This information was compiled from multiple sources, including FOIs.
aug 13, 2025, 2:34 pm • 3 1 • view
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Stephen Harrison @stephenharrison.bsky.social

VicPD killed at least 4 people under Del Manak, including Lisa Rauch (the officer committed misconduct). When VicPD killed a man in 2021, Manak said he had “‘every confidence’…his officers dealt with the incident appropriately.” The IIO has since asked the BC Prosecution Service to consider charges.

aug 13, 2025, 2:34 pm • 4 3 • view
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Stephen Harrison @stephenharrison.bsky.social

Under Del Manak, VicPD officers disproportionately used violence against Indigenous people (16.62% of use of force “incidents,” compared to 5.11% population) and Black people (3.09% use of force “incidents,” compared to 1.83% population). bsky.app/profile/step...

aug 13, 2025, 2:34 pm • 2 1 • view
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Stephen Harrison @stephenharrison.bsky.social

Under Del Manak, VicPD continued to disproportionately label BIPOC people “suspects” or persons “of interest.” Systemic racism extends to VicPD’s traffic work, where they disproportionately list BIPOC people as “drivers” and “passengers” in their reports. www.needsmorespikes.com/blog/2023/2/...

aug 13, 2025, 2:34 pm • 3 1 • view
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Stephen Harrison @stephenharrison.bsky.social

Under Del Manak, VicPD continued to work with the CBSA and turn people over for deportation. VicPD’s overall engagement with CBSA increased by 61% from 2019 to 2023. VicPD won’t provide information on how many deportations they facilitate. www.needsmorespikes.com/blog/vicpd-a...

aug 13, 2025, 2:34 pm • 2 0 • view
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Stephen Harrison @stephenharrison.bsky.social

Under Del Manak, there were at least three separate cases where officers were called out by judges for misleading the court, for things like: providing “unreliable” testimony; providing “an inaccurate reconstruction” of events; and having “misled the Crown, defence and the Justices.”

Screenshot of CanLII ruling. [59] As a result of my conclusion it is not necessary for me to address in detail the further argument of the defence that Cst Hilborne’s stop of [Name] was a ruse and not the genuine reason for the stop. I will simply say that I find Cst Hilborne’s evidence that the MVA infractions were the sole reason for the stop to be unreliable. It may be that Cst Hilborne’s memory of his intended purpose in stopping [Name] that night has also been impaired by the passage of time, but his evidence seems incongruous with the surrounding circumstances. [24] I conclude that Cst. Ewington's evidence is an inaccurate reconstruction of what was in his mind during the time from when Mr. Huntley came to his attention to the time that Cst. Ewington saw what he thought was a canister of pepper spray. I find that Cst. Ewington's decision to stop Mr. Huntley for crossing Johnson Street when the pedestrian countdown had already begun was reflected in what he said to Cst. Tremblay: [24] Through their actions investigators misled the Crown, defence and the Justices that issued authorizations and warrants into believing that the investigation commenced in June 2020.
aug 13, 2025, 2:34 pm • 2 0 • view
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Stephen Harrison @stephenharrison.bsky.social

The last case was their botched “Project Juliet” investigation. www.cbc.ca/news/canada/... Drug seizures like Project Juliet, which VicPD continues to engage in and promote as a public good, are linked to increased overdose deaths. ajph.aphapublications.org/doi/full/10....

aug 13, 2025, 2:34 pm • 3 1 • view
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Stephen Harrison @stephenharrison.bsky.social

Under Del Manak, 14 VicPD officers retired while under investigation between 2018 and 2023. www.needsmorespikes.com/blog/2024/2/...

aug 13, 2025, 2:34 pm • 2 0 • view
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Stephen Harrison @stephenharrison.bsky.social

Under Del Manak, VicPD continued to use their police cars to intentionally hit people on foot, on bicycles, and on scooters, despite their own policy. VicPD used their police cars to intentionally hit at least a dozen people during Manak’s time as chief. www.needsmorespikes.com/blog/police-...

aug 13, 2025, 2:34 pm • 7 3 • view
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Stephen Harrison @stephenharrison.bsky.social

Under Del Manak, VicPD’s budget ballooned from $53.9 million in 2018 to something like $82.5 million in 2025, a 53% increase. Inflation was 23%. Despite their track record, Victoria keeps giving VicPD more money, defunding other projects and services. It’s hard to keep track of their total funding.

aug 13, 2025, 2:34 pm • 2 0 • view