VANCOUVER — The Vancouver Police Board must look into an officer's allegation that arrest quotas have been issued as part of Mayor Ken Sim's "Task Force Barrage" initiative in the Downtown Eastside, British Columbia's police watchdog says.

An email from the anonymous whistleblower is on the agenda for Thursday's meeting of the board along with a corresponding letter from the Office of the Police Complaints Commissioner asking the board to take action.

The letter from the commissioner says it received a complaint from an officer on March 8, calling Task Force Barrage a politically motivated crackdown and saying those in charge have been "setting quotas."

Much of the email from the whistleblower was redacted but one sentence reads that they were taught that officers could decide whether to charge people.

"But now it's clear they don't value their officers' discretion and decision making and they're setting quotas. I don't think this is legal or right," it says.

The police watchdog says that legally the board must now initiate an investigation or a study, ask Chief Adam Palmer to launch an investigation, dismiss the complaint with reasons, or take "any other course of action" to adequately respond.

The Vancouver Police Department did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the allegations.

The letter from the commissioner says the whistleblower also made an allegation against a specific officer but that claim didn't meet the threshold to be admissible.

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