Chief Constable Adam Palmer announced the promotion of two Vancouver Police executives earlier today.

Superintendent Steve Rai has been promoted to Deputy Chief Constable and will assume command of the Support Services Division, which includes sections such as Human Resources, Recruiting and Training, Financial Services and Facilities Sections.

Inspector Laurence Rankin has been promoted to Superintendent and will assume command of Personnel Services.

Deputy Chief Constable Steve Rai

Deputy Chief Constable Steve Rai has been a member of the Vancouver Police Department since 1990. He was born in Punjab, India, and raised in Vancouver, where he graduated from Kitsilano Secondary School. Prior to joining the Department, he was a Canadian Forces reserve member and attended the University of British Columbia, where he completed a bachelor of arts degree in Asian studies. He also obtained a master of arts, criminal justice, from the University of the Fraser Valley.

Deputy Chief Constable Rai started his career with eight years as a patrol constable in District 3, where his duties included field training and mentoring new police officers. He drew on his cultural background to work extensively, at the street level, with the District’s South Asian community. He also completed assignments in the Vancouver Police Jail, as a Recruiting Unit investigator, and a secondment to the former Coordinated Law Enforcement Unit. He completed a second operational tour in District 1, including managing the Davie Street Community Policing Office, where he partnered with local community leaders, business owners and volunteers to address neighbourhood crime and order issues.

In addition to his regular duties, Deputy Chief Constable Rai completed a number of concurrent assignments, including ten years as an Emergency Response Team hostage negotiator, six years with the VPD’s Critical Incident Stress Management Team, and three years with the Forensic Interview Team, utilizing his Punjabi second language skills.

Deputy Chief Constable Rai was promoted to the rank of Sergeant in 2003, and returned to District 3 as an operational supervisor. In 2004, he was transferred to the position of Sergeant-in-charge of the VPD Recruiting Unit. During this assignment, he led a highly motivated team of investigators in fulfilling the Department’s mandate of hiring a large number of police officers, jail guards and traffic authority members. His team was successful in attracting numerous new exempt police officer applicants, while also hiring many Aboriginal, ethnic, and female recruits through community outreach and the mentoring of young future officers. Upon the completion of his tenure in the Recruiting Unit, Deputy Chief Constable Rai was redeployed as an operational Sergeant in District 2. He was promoted to the position of Inspector in the Human Resources Section following this assignment. He returned to District 3 in February 2012. Deputy Chief Constable Rai was promoted to Superintendent, Personnel Services, in July 2014.

Deputy Chief Constable Rai sits on numerous local and national committees. In 2006, he was the only Canadian police applicant to be selected for the US State Department’s International Leadership Development Program, which brought together police leaders from throughout the world.

Deputy Chief Constable Rai is the recipient of a Chief Constable’s Commendation for “courage and professionalism” and two Chief Constable Unit Citations. In 2013, he was the recipient of the Khalsa Diwan Society Exemplary Community Service Award.

Superintendent Laurence Rankin

Superintendent Rankin has been a member of the Vancouver Police Department since 1987. He is a longtime resident of the Vancouver area.  He has been married for 24 years and has two children.  Prior to joining the VPD, he completed the Criminal Justice Program at Langara College.

During his 27 years with the VPD, Superintendent Rankin has been assigned to numerous and varied positions as a constable, detective, sergeant, staff sergeant and inspector. He has worked in Patrol, the South Crime Unit, the Emergency Response Team, the Justice Institute of BC Police Academy as an instructor, in the Domestic Violence and Criminal Harassment Unit, the Home Invasion Task Force, the Sex Crimes Unit, the Polygraph Unit, the Homicide Unit, and the Professional Standards Section.

As an Inspector, Superintendent Rankin previously led the Integrated Riot Investigation Team and the General Investigation Section. Most recently he was the Inspector in charge of the VPD Major Crime Section, responsible for the Homicide, Robbery/Assault/Arson and Missing Persons Units.

Superintendent Rankin is known locally and nationally for his work in the area of polygraph examinations, both as a practitioner and trainer. He is an expert interviewer and member of the VPD’s Forensic Interview Team.  He has lectured in Canada and internationally on this subject, and has been published in a child abuse investigation handbook and in the Journal of Clinical Criminology.  He is also a provincially accredited team commander for major investigations, a designation held by only a small number of VPD members.

In 2014, Superintendent Rankin completed a master of arts degree in criminal justice at the University of the Fraser Valley.  In 2015, he completed the Canadian Association of Chiefs of Police International Professional Development Program, during which he studied international approaches to cyber crime.

Superintendent Rankin sits on numerous local and provincial committees and working groups related to the management of serious crime investigations and other subject areas.  He is the recipient of five VPD Commendations, including two Chief Constable’s Commendations.