Former cop's political career now in tatters with no guarantee of a return to the cabinet

By Doug Ward, Vancouver Sun

When Kash Heed was selected to be the Liberal candidate for Vancouver-Fraserview, it was widely assumed that he was destined for a seat in Premier Gordon Campbell's cabinet.

Then attorney-general Wally Oppal, no less, had been pressured by Campbell to give up his Vancouver-Fraserview seat so that Heed could run in the southeast Vancouver riding.

Now the political career of the former dream candidate and cabinet heavyweight lies in tatters with no guarantee of a return to the cabinet even if he is exonerated by an RCMP probe into alleged election-law violations by members of his campaign staff.

Cabinet ministers forced to step aside because of a special investigation rarely come back into cabinet.

Heed brought to the cabinet table a reputation for toughness, a capacity for hard work, a stellar 30-year police career and a high-profile in the Indo-Canadian community.

Given his three-decade-long policing career, he was a natural for the office of solicitor-general.

As B.C.'s top cop, Heed has been front and centre in his government's anti-gang campaign and was pushing for RCMP members in B.C. to be covered by the B.C. Police Act like their municipal counterparts.

In a recent poll in December, Heed, unlike all other cabinet members, drew more positive than negative impressions.

Heed graduated from the B.C. Police Academy in 1979 and began his career as an officer with the Vancouver police department, where he moved through the ranks of constable, detective, sergeant, inspector and superintendent.

During this time he also completed his BA and MA at Simon Fraser University, attending part-time.

Heed worked extensively in Vancouver South and, while inspector in the city's southeast quadrant, created the Gang Violence Task Force.

Heed was also head of the drug squad, led the Indo-Canadian gang task force and launched the COMPSTAT system, using computer technology to track crime.

Heed was a finalist in the selection of a new Vancouver chief, but Jim Chu won that appointment in August 2007.

Shortly afterwards, Heed was appointed chief of the West Vancouver police department, becoming the first Indo-Canadian police chief in Canada. Heed resigned as chief in February 2009.