Off the ‘Cuff

The item below was written by us and was originally published in the Vancouver Police Department’s 2007 Annual Report.

“The truth is not always pleasing–and it is the truth that during the last ten years the drug evil has required more strenuous handling by the Force in Vancouver than in any preceding years…The illicit drug traffickers of Vancouver have been taught to entertain a wholesome respect for two men of the police force.”

So began a profile of Detectives Donald A. Sinclair and Joseph Ricci in the department’s Annual Report of 1921. Assigned to the city’s first Drug Squad and tasked with suppressing the opium trade, these intrepid men quickly became experts on the trap doors, secret walls and other techniques used to conceal the drug trade from the prying eyes of the police. Thanks to the special skills of these men, finesse and the element of surprise were often adequate to gain entry to these secret spaces in basements and back rooms.

Occasionally, however, more convincing force was required: “the stalwart detective began chopping at the door with might and main, flying chips and heavy thuds from his axe.” Confronted with three separate thick doors, strengthened by heavy timbers, entry was made even more difficult when an alarm of “police” was given; a sentry would push an electric button which would close numerous doors, turn off electric lights and release the trapdoors for quick escape.

“There also enters at all times a considerable element of danger in this class of work, as the drug trafficker oftimes is a drug user and therefore to be closely watched. On their raids Ricci and Sinclair have been trapped in burning buildings, have been shot at and have had to shoot, but they have pulled through and built up a success at drug seizures of which the Force is very proud.”

In less than five years on the Drug Squad, seizures by these two detectives were valued in the Annual Report at “hundreds of thousands of dollars”, which would be the equivalent of millions of dollars today. They followed up this success by going to work on the city’s Dry Squad, using the same shrewd powers of observation and tenacious enthusiasm to curb the city’s illegal alcohol trade during and after Prohibition. Later, they also left their mark on the Morality Squad, clamping down on the “Social Evil” of prostitution.

As with other officers working on crimes of vice, Sinclair and Ricci were selected for their dispositions and ability to “disregard the unpleasantness attached to their work,” according to the 1921 Report. They further demonstrated all the qualifications of good detectives, namely: “shrewdness, reliability, honesty and energy.”

For their invaluable expertise, marked cunning and immovable resolve, these two exceptional Detectives were singled out in 1921 for going “Beyond the Call”.

Tags:   research · Ricci · Sinclair · Sins of the City · vpd Annual Report2 Comments