The new officer in charge (OIC) of the Richmond RCMP officially started his duties on Monday.
Chief Supt. David Chauhan is taking over the role after his predecessor, Will Ng, was appointed assistant commissioner in charge of Federal Investigative Services and Organized Crime for BC RCMP after five years as Richmond’s OIC.
Supt. Julie Drotar has been the acting OIC since Ng’s departure.
Before being named Richmond’s OIC, Chauhan was the acting OIC of the Lower Mainland Integrated Teams, which included IHIT, the Integrated Emergency Response Team, Integrated Forensic Identification Service, Integrated Collision Analysis and Reconstruction Service (ICARS) and the Integrated Police Dog Service.
“I am honoured and thrilled to have been chosen as the new Officer-in-Charge of Richmond RCMP and am excited to officially begin in my new role,” said Chauhan in a media statement.
Richmond city council recently approved the 2022/23 RCMP work plan, which included prioritizing property crime, organized crime, road safety and vulnerable persons.
After a suggestion by Coun. Chak Au at last week’s council meeting, city council also unanimously agreed to add fighting racism to the RCMP’s list of priorities for this year.
Drotar noted statistics from 2021 show 61 per cent of the 46 racially motivated hate crimes and incidents in Richmond were against Asians, 19 per cent were against Blacks and 13 per cent were against South Asians and Middle Easterners.
