Happy Del Manak Day

The city has proclaimed August 27, 2025, Del Manak’s last day, to be “Del Manak Day.” If the city wants to celebrate his legacy, it’s a good time to reflect on what policing actually looks like in Victoria.

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.

Summary of some of the use of force incidents during Del Manak’s time as chief.

VicPD killed at least four people under Del Manak, including Lisa Rauch (an adjudicator found 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 Independent Investigations Office has since asked the BC Prosecution Service to consider charges against the officer.

Under Del Manak, VicPD officers disproportionately used violence against Indigenous people (16.62% of use of force “incidents,” compared to 5.11% of Victoria and Esquimalt’s population) and Black people (3.09% of use of force “incidents,” compared to 1.83% of Victoria and Esquimalt’s population).

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.

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.

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.”

The last case was their botched “Project Juliet” investigation. Drug seizures like Project Juliet, which VicPD continues to engage in and promote as a public good, are linked to increased overdose deaths.

Under Del Manak, at least 14 VicPD officers retired while under investigation between 2018 and 2023.

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.

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 councillors keep giving VicPD more money, defunding other projects and services. It’s hard to keep track of their total funding.

During a police misconduct investigation, Manak spoke positively about an officer accused of “sexual assault upon a complainant who was obviously intoxicated and was clearly vulnerable.” Manak said they were “a hard working officer” and that it wouldn’t happen again.

Excerpt from a police misconduct investigation.

In 2021, after Black Press ran a piece on VicPD’s arrests of Indigenous youth, Manak “reamed out” the publisher at a hockey game and threatened to blacklist them, after which the article was taken down and edited.

During his time as police chief, Del Manak co-authored a letter with other local police chiefs saying they had “lost confidence” in the elected school board and later praised the decision to fire them. Police shouldn’t weigh in on whether elected officials are capable of holding office, but that’s part of his legacy.

Manak incorrectly told the police board and councillors that the acronym “ACAB” is legally hate speech. “Being a police officer” is not a legally protected identity. Police chiefs should know the law.

Acting as external discipline authority, Del Manak found that the Vancouver Police Department handcuffing an Indigenous man and his 12-year-old granddaughter outside a bank after they tried to open a bank account was justified. He was overruled.

Police killings, bloated budgets, and other systemic issues were not new under Del Manak, but he’s responsible for the department and his actions. Policing in Victoria is violent, it’s racist, and it defunds other services. When the city celebrates policing, this is what they’re celebrating.