Vancouver Police Chief Adam Palmer will be joining the RCMP as an assistant commissioner, according to an internal RCMP document viewed by BIV.
The document says Palmer’s responsibility will be “police service models, reform, accountability and culture sector.” He will be stationed in Vancouver.
Sgt. Steve Addison, a VPD media relations officer, confirmed Palmer’s appointment.
“Chief Palmer has accepted a position as an assistant commissioner within the RCMP and will assume that position following his retirement from VPD,” Addison said in an email Wednesday.
“I do not have any specific information to share about Chief Palmer’s new role at the RCMP or when that position will begin. Chief Palmer is not available for interviews at this time.”
Palmer that he would retire from the VPD at the end of April.
At that time, the chief gave no clues on his next move and would not answer a question from a reporter who suggested he might be seeking a party nomination to run in the federal election.
Palmer said more information on his future would likely “get out” in the next week or so, adding that “you probably won’t see the last of me.” That information never came, and speculation has mounted since his announcement.
“I'm not confirming anything right now,” he said at the time. “I'm not going to talk about what I'm doing in the future. So you can try asking me 10 different ways, but I'm just telling you don't bother because I'm not going to tell you guys what I'm doing right now.”
'Other opportunities'
BIV then asked him after a recent Vancouver Police Board meeting about his next move, but he would not comment.
Palmer’s contract was set to expire in September, but he said he was leaving in April because “the timing is good in the department, everything is in the place where I want it to be, and I've had other opportunities come my way that I want to explore.”
Palmer, who was sworn in as chief in 2015, has been the longest serving chief in the department’s history. He began his career with the VPD in 1987.
“This career is full of ups and downs, various crises, challenges, laughter and tears, but it's also incredibly rewarding, and I would do it all over again in a heartbeat without thinking twice,” he said at the news conference in February.
“I'll always be proud to say that I served my career as a member of the Vancouver Police Department.”
A national search continues for a new VPD chief.
