---
title: "Police crime analyst Arezo Zarrabian runs for ABC council seat for second election, raising questions about VPD ties to the party"
description: "CTV News reports that Arezo Zarrabian, a senior Vancouver Police Department crime analyst on leave, is running for City Council under ABC Vancouver for a second time. Political scientists and an academic are raising questions about the close relationship between ABC and the VPD."
canonical_url: "https://voche.me/news/arezo-zarrabian-vpd-campaign-september-29"
last_updated: "2026-10-10T04:01:15.754Z"
---

A senior Vancouver Police Department crime analyst is running for City Council under Mayor Ken Sim's ABC Vancouver party for the second consecutive election, CTV News reported on September 29, 2026. Reporter Andrew Weichel writes that the pattern of ABC fielding current or recent VPD employees in three straight elections has drawn scrutiny from political scientists.

[Arezo Zarrabian](/candidates/arezo-zarrabian) has worked at the VPD for 19 years, according to CTV News. She is currently on leave to run on the ABC slate. She previously ran with the Non-Partisan Association.

## What researchers and academics said to CTV News

Political scientist Stewart Prest told CTV News that this October will mark the third consecutive election in which ABC has fielded a candidate who is a current or recent VPD employee, which he called "unusual" in Vancouver politics. "We certainly haven't seen a single party so consistently identify with the police service," Prest said. He also told CTV that the VPD budget "seems to be treated differently" than other services under the current council.

CTV News reports the VPD budget grew from $341 million to $497 million since Sim and his ABC-majority council took office. The Zero Means Zero budget, which froze property taxes for 2026, cut spending in parks, planning, sustainability and other departments while increasing police spending by $50 million, according to the article.

Mark MacLean, a former mathematics chair at the University of British Columbia, told CTV News that public institutions such as police departments need to be "as complete and careful and dispassionate as possible" in how they collect and present data. MacLean said Zarrabian's repeated runs for political office then return to her role raises fair questions about public trust in the department's reports, though he told CTV he was not questioning the quality of her work or her positions.

## The police union and the 2022 election

The Vancouver Police Union endorsed Sim in the 2022 election, breaking from its usual practice, CTV News reports. For 2026, the union is not endorsing any candidate. CTV News reports the union has reshared posts about Zarrabian's ABC candidacy and an ABC attack ad against mayoral challenger Pete Fry. VPU president Jason Chan told CTV News he does not view the union's survey of candidates, launched weeks before election day, as a political act.

## Zarrabian's response

Zarrabian told CTV News her career makes her well suited to address the city's problems. On impartiality, she said her training and accreditation specifically focus on avoiding political bias in data analysis. CTV News asked, through ABC's communications team, whether she would continue working at the VPD if elected, but received no response by deadline.

Voters choosing among City Council candidates on October 17 can review all [nominations](/nominations).

## Sitemap

See the full [sitemap](/sitemap.md) for all pages.