Photos posted on social media showing a member of Surrey’s new police board posing with Hells Angels members are now being investigated by B.C.’s Solicitor General.
Harley Chappell, who is the elected chief of the Semiahmoo First Nation, was spotted in Facebook photos with full-patch members of the gang.
Another photo also showed Chappell’s father wearing the club’s colours.
Chappell said it is well-known his dad had been a member but he said he’s never associated with the club in any way.
“We check people that want to deliver food to your home… but for some reason, we don’t check police board,” B.C.’s former Solicitor General Kash Heed told Global News.
In a statement, Chappell said in 2018 he attended the funeral of the mother of a childhood friend and members of the Hells Angels were at the event. “Any photos of me with my father’s friends were from his past,” the statement said.
B.C.’s Solicitor General, Mike Farnworth, confirmed Thursday they are investigating the matter.
Critics told Global News that someone sitting on the police board with even the slightest hint of a connection to organized crime is something that needs to be addressed.
“We expect people that sit on our police boards to be of extreme character,” Heed said.