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Yes. Anyone who possesses or uses a security alarm system, within the City of Vancouver, must obtain and maintain a valid security alarm permit. This includes both monitored and non-monitored alarm systems.
It will cost $10 for each additional embossed original. In order to offer this reduced fee, you will need to make the request on the same date that you apply – this cannot be backdated or offered on a future date.
See Information & Privacy Requests or contact the VPD’s Information and Privacy Unit at (604) 717-3071.
If your car was impounded for a criminal investigation, please contact the investigator in charge of the case or the Impounded Vehicle Coordinator at 604-717-3198.
Please visit our Recruiting FAQs.
Found property can be dropped off at 2010 Glen Drive from 8:00 a.m. to 4:45 p.m. Monday and Friday, and 8:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m. on Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday (closed statutory holidays).
Complaints generally have to do with police misconduct that affected you personally or that you witnessed. Most complaints are about police actions that may affect public trust.
Your complaint must be made no more than 12 months after the incident occurred.
Your right to make a complaint against the Vancouver Police Department is set out in the B.C. Police Act. This law affects all municipal police in British Columbia.
Yes. Anytime you are asked to get a police information check, you must pay to have one processed. It is not an item that can be re-used.
Call (604) 660-4353.
Your block can be involved for as long as you meet all the requirements. Any blocks not taking the necessary steps required to keep their Block Watch active will have the program ended in their block and their signs removed.
Found property is returned to the lawful owner as soon as possible. If the owner cannot be determined or located and all investigation is concluded, the finder can claim the article after 90 days. The finder can check on the status of the property by calling the Property Office at (604) 717-2726 after 60 days. Some items such as prohibited articles or identification cannot be claimed. Prisoner Property for safekeeping is held for 90 days before it is disposed of.
We use the following:
- Legacy RMS – Vancouver Police Department Records pre-March 2001
- PRIME – Police Records Information Management Environment – post March 2001
- CPIC – Canadian Police Information Centre (national police database held at the RCMP central repository in Ottawa)
- PIP – Police Information Portal (local databases of police agencies across Canada)
- JUSTIN – Justice Information (BC court information)
Employers and volunteer agencies should only accept PIC and PIC-VS results from the Vancouver Police Department:
- where the employer/volunteer agency is named on the Vancouver Police Department Request and Consent for Records Check and Disclosure Form
- when the form has a Vancouver Police Department seal of authenticity pressed into the paper
If you have any questions regarding the authenticity of a police information check, please call at (604) 717-3044.
See Join the VPD.
Please refer to our police information check webpage.
If the file originated from the Vancouver Police Department, please contact our Information & Privacy Unit at 604-717-3071. For files originating from other police agencies, please contact them directly for information on how to obtain a copy of the report.
The length of time depends on our customer volume. Typically, they are completed within one to two weeks if there is no follow-up that needs to be completed. If the applicant has lived elsewhere in Canada in the last five years, or there are files that need to be reviewed, the process can take up to four weeks or more.
Call the B.C. Legal Services Society (Legal Aid) at (604) 601-6000 or Dial-A-Law Lawyer Referral Service at (604) 687-3221.
Call VictimLINK at 1-800-563-0808.
No. City of Vancouver Bylaw #7111 does not require registration of vehicle alarms such as automobiles, motorcycles, and boats (unless the boat is used as the primary residence and is occupied on a full-time basis).
You can search the Canadian Police Information Centre (CPIC) database, which is used by all police agencies in Canada.
You can make your complaint to the Office of the Police Complaint Commissioner directly or through the Vancouver Police Department.
If you cannot find the information on our website, please contact our media spokespersons at media@vpd.ca.
No. You must book an appointment (police information check | fingerprinting) and come to the Vancouver Police Department at 2120 Cambie Street in person.
Call the Alcohol and Drug Information Line at (604) 660-9382.
At least once a year an auction is held to dispose of unclaimed property. Articles include bicycles, jewelry and general merchandise. Vehicles are not sold at this auction. Goods are assembled into lots and each lot is sold in its entirety to the highest bidder.
First, please call (604) 717-3044. If you are still not satisfied with the information provided, please refer to the Reconsideration Request Process.
Call (604) 873-7000 and ask for the officer by name or by badge number to reach their voicemail.
The VPD only investigates criminal incidents that have taken place in Vancouver, and we are unable to help with civil matters. A police report must have been taken and an incident number provided before the Forensic Identification Unit can become involved.
Your licence can be picked up at the Vancouver Police Public Service counter at 2120 Cambie Street, open daily from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Bring a copy of your suspension with you.
Contact the Block Watch office. The remaining participants must find a new Captain or Co-Captain.
The new Captain or Co-Captain must then fill out an application form and go through the training before they can be involved in the Block Watch program.
The VPD only has police officers working in our Forensic Identification Unit. Experience as an investigator and presenting evidence in court is a very important part of the work. The RCMP has laboratory work for civilians.
Call the Crisis Intervention and Suicide Prevention Centre of B.C. Crisis Line 24 hours at (604) 872-3311.
Yes, during COVID we do require an appointment. We are open seven days per week, including statutory holidays, from 8:00 a.m to 4:00 p.m.
The VPD does not offer an expedited service for police information checks. All applicants are processed in order of date received. However, if the applicant is leaving the county and needs to take the police information check with them, they can bring in a copy of their flight information and we will do our best to get the check done in time.
Please call (604) 717-2726 if you believe the VPD has seized your vehicle for any follow-up investigation.
The RCMP does not retain the $25 processing fee for vulnerable sector checks. Fees are payable to the Receiver General for Canada, in accordance with federal regulations, and are deposited into the Consolidated Revenue Fund.
For purposes of volunteer positions (no payment for services), there is no federally regulated processing fee that has to be submitted to the RCMP for requesting a vulnerable sector check.
Unfortunately, no. The nature of our work means that anyone present at a serious crime scene must be available for court as a witness. This process can take years and if the individual involved is not available for court, the case could be compromised. Also, there is often confidential evidence collected at major crime scenes.
A police auction is held at least once a year to dispose of unclaimed property, including bicycles, jewelry, and general merchandise. The date and location of auctions will be shared in our social media channels.
The RCMP destroys fingerprint submissions 90 days after a search is completed, and the results are returned to the Vancouver Police Department. The fingerprints are not added to the RCMP National Repository of Criminal Records and are not searched for future purposes.
Yes. Each calendar year you need to send in an updated list to the Block Watch office to keep your Block Watch program active.
Please visit our Recruiting FAQs.
Block Watch is a free community program operated by the VPD Block Watch office. Citizens in the community, with the help of the Block Watch coordinator and constable, are responsible for organizing, operating, and maintaining the Block Watch program in their neighbourhoods. The goals of the program are:
- for residents to become actively involved in crime prevention in their community
- to reduce crime in the community
- to increase people reporting suspicious activities to police
- to promote pride and awareness in the community
The VPD does not include expiry dates on completed police information checks. It is the discretion of an employer or volunteer organization to establish guidelines related to recent and acceptable police information checks.
In February 2013, the Minister of Justice announced that the provincially run Criminal Records Review Program would be amended to also provide free criminal record checks for volunteers who work with children and/or vulnerable adults. In order to participate, your volunteer organization needs to register or “opt in” to the new program. Enrolment is not mandatory and volunteer organizations may choose not to register and continue using the police for this service.
In addition to a police information check, all adoption applicants must submit their fingerprints to the RCMP Canadian Real-Time Identification Services (CCRTIS).
For the protection of our most vulnerable and in the interest of public safety, CCRTIS will use the fingerprint submission to verify if an individual has a record for pardoned sex offences. If one exists, CCRTIS will ask the Minister of Public Safety for approval to determine if the record should be disclosed.
Police cannot be everywhere at all times. They need help from the community to effectively prevent, reduce, and investigate crime, by having residents identify and report all suspicious circumstances to police.
The more people who are actively involved with Block Watch, the more successful the program.
Read more about Block Watch.
To request a police officer attend your neighbourhood meeting, contact the Block Watch office at (604) 717-2884. See Neighbourhood Meeting section for details
The public can report found bicycles to (604) 717-3321.
- complete the VPD Police Information Check Form
- include clear copies of your identification
- include a completed copy of documents from the government or organization that explains why you require a police information check conducted by the local police agency where you previously resided (i.e. Vancouver) – If you need a Canadian police certificate based on a fingerprint search, please contact an RCMP accredited agency to determine their procedure and fees.
- we need an original set of your fingerprints which you should get and have certified at a local police station where you currently live
- include a brief letter with the following:
- list of addresses where you lived in the city of Vancouver (if you lived in a suburb such as Burnaby, North Vancouver, West Vancouver, Richmond or Surrey, you will need to contact that police agency)
- list of all the names that you have ever used (i.e. birth name, Canadian name if your family name is different, maiden name, aliases, nicknames, change of name)
- the address where you want the results mailed to
- if someone else is picking up the results in person on your behalf, state your permission and provide their name (they will be required to show ID to pick up)
- The fee is $80.00. You can pay by certified cheque or money order, payable to the City of Vancouver and in Canadian funds (do not send cash or personal cheques). If you have been convicted of a criminal offence, there is an additional fee of $25, as your fingerprints will need to be sent to the RMCP to confirm your criminal convictions.
Please mail the complete package to:
Vancouver Police Department
Attention: Police Records Check
3585 Graveley Street
Vancouver, B.C.
V5K 5J5
Please note: We are unable to courier police information check results unless you arrange a courier pickup yourself.
If you live outside of Canada and need a Canadian police certificate based on a fingerprint search, contact an accredited agency in Canada to determine their procedure and fees.
You will need to go to your local police agency and have your fingerprints taken, and the accredited agency that you choose will digitize them so they can be submitted to the RCMP in Ottawa.
