Family of Vancouver cop who died by suicide after alleged blackmail by her superiors sues city

Yahoo News! ^ | 7/2 | Bryan Ke

[nickcarraway]

The family of former Vancouver cop Nicole Chan, the officer who died by suicide after being blackmailed into an inappropriate intimate relationship with her superiors, filed a lawsuit against the city and its police department.

The lawsuit, which was filed by Chan’s sister Jennifer Chan and mother Lai Ching Ho in January but only recently came to light, claims that Chan was coerced into having an intimate relationship with her superior, Sgt. David Van Patten.

Van Patten reportedly made contact with Chan while the latter was applying for a new position within the Vancouver Police Department in early 2016. The officer allegedly began flirting with Chan via text messages after rejecting her application. He purportedly pressed the female officer into having an intimate relationship with him during a work trip and urged her to keep it a secret.

[VanShuyten]

“ Other defendants named in the lawsuit include the City of Vancouver, the Vancouver Police Board, the Vancouver Police Department, the police department’s chief constable, two unnamed police department employees, the Vancouver Police Union, B.C. Attorney General David Eby and B.C. Solicitor General Mike Farnworth.”

Might as well go after them all. From the info in the story, it’s not clear that she was mentally fit to be on officer, but her boss sounds like a piece of work, too.

[bagster]

[Fiji Hill]

You have to read to the end of the article to find out which Vancouver this story is from. I at first thought it was Vancouver, Wash., but it turned out to be the other Vancouver.

[RetiredTexasVet]

police department’s chief constable

Gives it away.

[Gay State Conservative]

When I hear Vancouver I immediately think Canada. I suppose if you're from the Northwest you'd first think of Washington.

[HartleyMBaldwin]

References to the B. C. Attorney General and the B. C. Solicitor General are clues.

[rexthecat]

When I hear Vancouver I immediately think Canada. I suppose if you're from the Northwest you'd first think of Washington.

When you enter Washington State (crossing the Columbia River on either I-205 or I-5) you immediately see a sign that says, "Vancouver USA." Occasionally visitors get them mixed up.