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Deputy Chief Constable Steve Rai began his career with the VPD in 1990, spending his first years as a frontline patrol constable in District 3. Following that he worked in a number of assignments - managing the David Street Community Policing Office; field training and mentoring new officers; working in Court and Detention Service; serving as a recruiting unit investigator, and was seconded to the former Coordinated Law Enforcement Unit. Born in the Punjab and emigrating to Canada at a young age, he drew on his cultural background to work extensively, at the street level, with the city’s ethnically diverse communities. He served a decade as an Emergency Response Team crisis negotiator, and had stints with the VPD’s Critical Incident Stress Management Team and Forensic Interview Team. After being promoted to sergeant in 2003 he worked as supervisor of a team of officers working in the Downtown Eastside, handling a unique set of challenges including extreme poverty and drug addiction. He was promoted to inspector in 2007, serving first as Executive Officer in the chief Constable’s Office and then Operational Duty Officer responsible for critical incident management. In 2009 he returned to Training and Recruiting, hiring a large number of officers in preparation for the 2010 Olympics and increasing the department’s diversity. He served as the department’s Operations Centre Commander for the Olympics, North Commander during the 2011 Stanley Cup Riots, and Incident Commander for Occupy Vancouver. He was promoted to superintendent of Personnel Services in 2014, and then Deputy Chief Constable of Support Services Division in 2015. In that role he oversees the strategic management and coordination of all Support Services sub-divisions including finance, personnel, and information. He manages the VPD’s $312 annual budget, and leads collective bargaining on behalf of the department.

In 2006, he was the only Canadian police officer accepted for the US State Department’s International Leadership Development Program, and is a graduate of the FBI National Executive Institute Leadership Program and the Major City Chiefs Association Police Executive Leadership Program. In 2018, Deputy Chief Rai was elected as the President of the British Columbia Association of Municipal Chiefs of Police, and he serves as a member of the Canadian Association of Chiefs of Police Ethics Committee. He was one of the founding members of the Canadian Armed Forces Advisory Council on Diversity, where he shared his expertise in recruiting for diversity into the Canadian military.

Deputy Chief Rai is the recipient of a Chief Constable’s Commendation for courage and professionalism, two Chief Constable Unit Citations, and a Police Exemplary Service Medal. In 2013, he was the recipient of the Khalsa Diwan Society Exemplary Community Service Award and appointed to the Member of Merit of the Police Forces in May 2016, and promoted to the Order of Merit in May 2020.