The Vancouver Police Department says officers will not patrol any of the city’s beaches this summer.
Const. Megan Lui says police will respond to calls from beaches, but after funding cuts to the Vancouver Board of Parks and Recreation, they will not actively patrol.
CLICK HERE TO LISTEN TO 1130 NEWSRADIO VANCOUVER LIVE!The partnership saw officers cruise Vancouver beaches on ATVs, on foot, and on bicycles.
Earlier this month, the Park Board confirmed it would continue providing lifeguard services at nine outdoor beaches this summer, after budget cuts threatened service at five of them.
Lui confirmed that the VPD Marine Unit will continue to patrol deep waters.
Mayor questions Park Board’s priorities; Park Board demands apology
In a statement to 1130 NewsRadio, Mayor Ken Sim says the news raises “serious questions” about the Park Board’s priorities.
He says the city supports alcohol consumption on beaches, and that must also come with “adequate resources” to keep people safe.
Sim asked, “Now, that funding has reportedly disappeared, and Vancouverites are left asking: where exactly is the Park Ranger program at, and who is going to be responsible for keeping these spaces safe?”
“Vancouverites deserve transparency and accountability about how these decisions are being made. Residents expect common sense. If Vancouverites are enjoying a beer or a wine on the beach, public safety considerations must remain a priority.”
Chair Tom Digby says the Park Board is “incredibly outraged” that the VPD would make what he calls a “completely unfounded assertion.”
“We have never committed to funding the VPD for their own job obligations to maintain public safety across the city,” said Digby.
“In the past two previous summers, we were forced to pay an extra $430,000 per summer so that the police would supervise the beaches — actually police the Vancouver beaches. We were outraged that it was demanded that we should pay this. We were forced to pay it.”
He says the VPD did not make its annual demand in the budget cycle, which began in October 2025, this year. Digby says the board accepted that as an indication that the VPD would be “too embarrassed” to demand another $430,000, given that it was the only city department not subject to budget cuts.
“The Park Board is not responsible for policing services on our beach. It’s up to the police. And it is an absolute outrage that the police would assert this. And what’s equally an outrage — and perhaps more of an outrage — is that the mayor is choosing to double down in his war against the Park Board and somehow blame us for the fact that we do not have $430,000 extra to fund his police department.”
Digby says he’s confident that park rangers can continue to maintain the peace on city beaches “by and large.”
“It was actually the police department themselves that was causing immense problems last summer with their ridiculous beach sweeps at 10:01 p.m., where they were kicking off high school students and regular people that were just enjoying the beach at sunset,” said Digby.
“And so the police came on over-policing, wearing bulletproof vests and carrying guns on our beaches was completely excessive.”
He says Sim and Police Chief Steve Rai should retract the assertion that the Park Board is to blame for the lack of patrols and apologize.
“The mayor refused to fund lifeguard services on our beaches, told us to find cuts. Just earlier this week, he demanded that we make free swimming lessons across the city without providing any budget compensation for that. And now he’s blaming us for not funding his police department that he already gave an extra $50 million to this year,” Digby listed.
“I expect full apologies from both of those organizations immediately.”
City Coun. Pete Fry says the news is “astonishing” considering the record funding the VPD received in the 2026 annual budget.
But he says it isn’t necessarily bad news unless it limits approved drinking or beach access hours for the public.
“I don’t think necessarily we need a proactive approach, where we have patrols running up and down the beach every day,” said Fry.
“As long as the suggestion isn’t that those alcohol-permitted beaches need to shut down because there won’t be proactive policing. If that’s not the case, then maybe this is even like a good news story.”
He says that with police able to respond to incidents as they arise, there may be no reason for the City or Park Board to pay for active patrols.
“We do have qualified park rangers who do attend beaches and parks and educate folks and keep folks safe. And that’s part of the function that we pay them for,” said Fry, adding that the arrival of the FIFA World Cup in Vancouver may have something to do with the VPD’s deployment.
“I trust that the police are adequately resourcing what they need to resource in their best estimation of the needs.”