Vancouver mayor apologizes to retired Black B.C. judge wrongly handcuffed by police

Vancouver’s mayor has apologized to a retired B.C. Supreme Court judge who was detained and handcuffed by police in English Bay on Friday.

Selwyn Romilly, the first Black judge elevated to B.C.’s superior court, was held by police who were searching for an assault suspect they said matched his description.

Romilly, who is 81, said police were looking for a “dark-skinned man in his 40s or 50s.”

“I thought things had changed and they haven’t,” Romilly told Global News of the incident.

“I hate to say racial profiling, but I can’t help but think if it was an 81-year-old white man, regardless of the description, they wouldn’t have put him in handcuffs for ‘officer safety.'”

In a statement on Saturday, mayor Kennedy Stewart said he was “appalled” by the incident.

“This is not something anyone should be forced to go through. Incidents like this can be a very damaging experience, especially for those in the Indigenous, Black and Person of Colour communities who already face multiple barriers and discrimination,” Stewart said.

Stewart added that he had been in touch with Vancouver police Chief Adam Palmer about the incident, which would be on the agenda at the next police board meeting.

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“I want to say again, all of our institutions are based on colonialism and as such are systemically racist. This includes the City of Vancouver and the Vancouver Police Department,” Stewart said.

“We must continue to acknowledge this reality and do our best to combat racism — especially in our government institutions.”

Romilly told Global News he was handcuffed by police who told him that he matched a suspect’s description while he was out for his morning walk on the seawall.

“It was embarrassing because it was a public place, and you know the place is really busy at that time in the morning,” he said.

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Romilly said he doesn’t intend to file a complaint, and that he’s received apologies both from the mayor and a senior officer with the VPD.

But he said the incident has made clear that officers still need better training.

The incident, he added, highlights the position racialized people find themselves in when confronted by police: they may be in the right, but they risk escalating the situation if they protest.

“When it happens, you have to know what your rights are. But at the same time, don’t antagonize — if you start antagonizing, you may end up on the losing end,” he said.

“Put your hands behind your back, you get manacled, embarrassed. But you start fighting and all that other stuff, there are all kinds of other charges. Before you know it, you’re in custody and what have you. It’s a really slippery slope.

“How do you really explain that to Black kids?”

Vancouver police confirmed they were called to the English Bay area around 9:15 a.m., to reports of a man assaulting strangers, when they encountered a man “who resembled the description of the suspect.”

Police said handcuffs were deployed “given the violent nature of the incident,” but that the “handcuffs were quickly removed” when officers realized the man they had was not the suspect.

In January 2020, Vancouver police faced criticism after handcuffing an Indigenous grandfather and 12-year-old girl who were trying to open an account at a BMO branch.