The Office of the Police Complaint Commissioner confirmed several VPD officers are being investigated for potential neglect of duty
The New Westminster Police Department is investigating several Vancouver officers for potential neglect of duty over their response to the disappearance of Chelsea Poorman, who was found dead outside an abandoned mansion nearly two years after she was reported missing.
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Poorman, a 24-year-old Cree woman originally from Saskatchewan, went missing in September 2020. Her skeletal remains were found behind a vacant mansion in the wealthy Shaughnessy neighbourhood 20 months later. At the time of the discovery, Vancouver police declared her death “not suspicious” and said it appeared her body had been there since shortly after she disappeared.
Chelsea’s mom, Sheila Poorman, said she is happy the actions of Vancouver police are still being looked at, but she has no information about how and when it became an investigation into individual officers’ potential neglect of duty.
“They haven’t told me anything,” she said on Thursday.
She noted it’s been five years since her daughter disappeared and four years since she and her family publicly called on police to do more to help find her.
She said she was asked to call one of the independent police investigators less than two weeks ago and is waiting for a call back, when she hopes to learn more about what’s going on.
Sheila Poorman said she heard from a reporter just today that there is video of Chelsea on a transit bus on the night of her disappearance, and that police haven’t informed her about that evidence.
The OPCC also would not provide details about what sparked the investigation.
“While I am unable to go into details with the specifics of this case due to confidentiality provisions, the commissioner has determined it to be in the public interest to confirm that the New Westminster Police Department has been appointed to conduct an investigation under the Police Act relating to the conduct of several Vancouver police officers,” said OPCC spokeswoman Andrea Spindler in an email response.
Spindler said the OPCC opened “an investigation into the conduct of several Vancouver police officers for allegations of neglect of duty involving their response to a missing persons report.” That was launched in 2022.
More recently, the commissioner handed the role of discipline authority in the case to a retired judge in place of senior police officers.
In the past, the commissioner could only assign a judge if the OPCC disagreed with a senior police investigation that found no misconduct. But legal changes in April 2024 allowed for the appointment to be made before a report is complete.
The judge will operate at arm’s length from the OPCC to determine whether there was any misconduct.