Kash Heed
Vancouver 49° 15' 39.14" N, 123° 6' 50.23" W Politician Person
Kash P. Heed (Kashmir Singh Heer) is a Canadian politician, who was elected as a BC Liberal Member of the Legislative Assembly of British Columbia in the 2009 provincial election, representing the riding of Vancouver-Fraserview.
He formerly served as the Minister of Public Safety and Solicitor General. He was formerly chief constable of the West Vancouver Police Department and a former superintendent with the Vancouver Police Department and was the first Indo-Canadian police chief in Canada.
Heed graduated from the B.C. Police Academy in 1979 and began his career as an officer with the VPD. In June 2007 he lost out to Deputy Chief Jim Chu for the position of Chief Constable of the VPD, but days later was appointed to that title in West Vancouver. He led the West Vancouver Police Department for 19 months and resigned on February 23, 2009.<ref>http://www.news1130.com/news/local/more.jsp?content=20090223_181612_5112</ref>
He was the superintendent in charge of the south part of Vancouver, and as an Inspector was commander of District 3, which corresponds to the southeast quadrant of Vancouver.
Other roles in his career with the VPD have included heading the drug squad and Indo-Canadian gang task force, as well as implementing the department's COMPSTAT information technology system.
He is a published author who also teaches criminology and criminal justice at two B.C. colleges. He pioneered initiatives aimed at crime reduction and prevention as well as greater community and police engagement. He led the Indo-Canadian Task Force and inspired the formation of grassroots organizations dedicated to preventing gang violence.