Kash Heed
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.
Political campaign
Heed's opponent and main electoral rival in the British Columbia New Democratic Party, Gabriel Yiu has accused him of using images showing Heed in a police uniform in his campaign materials as being improper.<ref>Use of uniform in campaign riles Gabriel Yiu, Carlito Pablo, Georgia Straight, May 7, 2009</ref>
Heed resigned from the West Vancouver Police Department prior to the end of his five year contract. He also resigned before he could be brought to task on the allegation of improperly revealing information to a police board member. Prior to the allegations Heed had decried the fact (Video media) that some former employees of the WVPD had used the same tactic to avoid a hearing by the Police Complaints Commission.
While Solicitor General, Heed stated that he wished to change the system so that police officers will not be able to avoid hearings by either retiring or by resigning; however, this change would not be retro-active.
Resignation
On April 9, 2010, Heed resigned in response to an unspecified RCMP investigation involving violations of the Elections Act. Heed is the third consecutive solicitor-general to step down in the last 25 months.<ref>Vancouver Sun. Election probe at centre of resignation. April 10, 2010.</ref> Fund-raising regularities subsequently came to light but the Special Prosecutor exonerated Heed of involvement and he came back into cabinet on May 4, 2010. Then. less than 24 hours later, the Special Prosecutor himself resigned when it was discovered that the law firm he came from had made financial contributions to the election campaign of Heed's party, the Liberals. Heed, once again, stepped down pending a more detailed probe into the case.<ref>CBC News. B.C. solicitor general Heed resigns again. May 5, 2010.</ref>
References
- Heed heads west, makes history by Mike Howell, Vancouver Courier, Friday, July 13, 2007 (retrieved July 22, 2007)
- West Vancouver's new police chief 'an innovator' CBC.ca News, Wednesday, June 27, 2007 (retrieved July 22, 2007)
- West Van top cop Heed resigns North Shore Outlook, February 23, 2009 (retrieved February 23, 2009)
- B.C. Solicitor-General Kash Heed stepping down TheVancouver Sun April 9, 2010 (retrieved April 9, 2010)
External links
- Kash Heed, MLA for Vancouver-Fraserview
- Indo-canadian editor promotes Kash Heed by Carlito Pablo, Georgia Straight, April 12, 2007 (retrieved July 22, 2007)
- Vancouver police target gang violence CBC.ca News Thursday, March 8, 2007 (retrieved July 22, 2007)