RAI was born in Punjab, India, and immigrated to Vancouver with his family at a young age. Prior to joining the Vancouver Police Department, he served with the Canadian Forces Reserves while also completing his bachelor of arts degree in Asian studies at the University of British Columbia. He then went on to further his education with a master of arts in criminal justice from the University of the Fraser Valley.

According to the Vancouver Police website, Rai began his career with the VPD in 1990, working for eight years as a frontline patrol constable in District 3, with duties that included field training and mentoring new police officers. He also drew on his cultural background to work extensively with the District’s diverse communities. Rai subsequently completed assignments in Court and Detention Services, as a Recruiting Unit investigator, and on secondment to the former Coordinated Law Enforcement Unit. He then completed a second operational tour in District 1 as the community police officer where he managed the Davie Street Community Policing Office. This position required collaboration with local community leaders, business owners, and volunteers to address neighbourhood crime and disorder issues.

In addition to his regular operational duties, Rai completed a number of concurrent assignments, including ten years as an Emergency Response Team crisis negotiator, six years with the VPD’s Critical Incident Stress Management Team, and three years with the Forensic Interview Team, utilizing his Punjabi language skills.

Rai was promoted to the rank of sergeant in 2003, where he returned to District 3. As an operational supervisor, he oversaw a team of ten constables, dealing with a multitude of critical incidents and complex investigations. In 2004, he transferred to the position of sergeant-in-charge of the VPD Recruiting Unit. During this assignment, he led a highly motivated team of investigators in fulfilling the Department’s mandate of hiring a large number of police officers, jail guards and traffic authority members. His team was successful in attracting numerous new exempt police officer applicants while also increasing the number of Indigenous, ethnic, and female recruits, through innovative community outreach and mentoring of young future officers.

Following his position in the Recruiting Unit, Rai returned to the Operations Division, this time in District 2, including the Downtown Eastside. He managed a team of constables dealing with unique sets of problems including extreme poverty and serious drug addiction.

Rai joined the VPD Senior Leadership Team upon his promotion to the rank of inspector in 2007, where he took on the role of Executive Officer in the Chief Constable’s Office. His next assignment was in 2008 as the Operational Duty Officer, where he was responsible for critical incident management city-wide. In 2009, Rai returned to the Training and Recruiting Section during a high-pressure time — the section successfully hired a large number of officers in preparation for the 2010 Olympics while increasing the diversity of the department, earning him a Chief Constable’s Citation.

Rai also became a certified Bronze, Silver, and Gold Public Order Commander in 2009, where he effectively led the response to a number of high-profile and protracted public order protests and demonstrations. He was a Vancouver Departmental Operations Centre Commander for the 2010 Winter Olympics, the Incident Commander for the Occupy Vancouver Movement, and led the successful quelling of the 2011 Stanley Cup Riot as North Commander.

After the 2010 Olympics, Rai transferred to become the Director in charge of the Human Resources Section, where he led a strong team of senior sergeants, exempt managers, and civilian professionals in meeting the challenging needs of VPD’s diverse workforce. In this role, Rai initiated and led the formation of the Employee Wellness Program, delivering a positive effect on employee retention, which significantly contributed to the future recognition of the VPD as one of British Columbia’s Top Employers.

In 2012, Rai returned to the Operations Division as the District 3 Commander, where he oversaw 200 police officers and was responsible for all crime-fighting approaches and community partnerships. Under his command, targeted programs were implemented to address crime trends including focused bicycle and foot patrols in designated areas without impacting regular service efficiencies. During this time, overall District 3 crime dropped by 21% and the violent crime rate decreased by 17%.

In July 2014, Rai was promoted to superintendent in Personnel Services, where he oversaw all sworn and civilian employee matters, including managing union issues, employee support, promotions, training standards, and discipline under the BC Police Act. As superintendent, he stabilized some of the most contentious Professional Standards files in recent VPD history, while strengthening cooperative relationships with union partners, the Office of the Police Complaints Commission, community groups, and individuals. His actions led to the near-total replacement of formal grievance proceedings by informal resolutions that exemplify responsiveness, consistency, fairness, and unbiased decision-making.

In June 2015, Rai was promoted to the role of Deputy Chief Constable of Support Services Division, including finance, human resources, professional standards, labour and employee relations, training and recruiting, force options, risk management, technology, legal, facilities, fleet, information management, and strategic planning. Through innovative recruiting strategies, he led the hiring of the majority of the current sworn and civilian VPD workforce. He led the implementation of leading-edge cultural competency and de-escalation training, a comprehensive employee wellness and support program, and technological advancements and efficiencies at the VPD. He also led bargaining with all employee union groups through four consecutive collective agreement settlements, and managed the annual VPD budget for the last decade.

Also during his tenure as Deputy Chief, he led the 2017 Operational Review which resulted in more than 170 additional staff for the VPD, the organization’s COVID-19 response, a successful Budget Appeal in 2021, the 2023 VPD Deployment Plan for the hiring of the 100 new officers allocated by Vancouver Mayor and City Council, and the implementation of Enterprise Risk Management in 2024. Furthermore, he championed the rollout of a new respectful workplace policy and oversees organization-wide strategic and business planning, including the development of the 2017-2021 and 2022-2026 VPD Strategic Plans.

Rai was the only Canadian police officer accepted for the US State Department’s International Leadership Development Program, which brought together police leaders from throughout the world. He is a graduate of the FBI National Executive Institute Leadership Program, the Major City Chiefs Association Police Executive Leadership Program, the Harvard Business School Executive Development Program, and the Global Policing Innovation Exchange coordinated by the Australian Institute of Police Management.

Throughout his career, he has been involved in many different committees in support of the law enforcement profession and his impact extends beyond Vancouver. 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. He has served as the President of the BC Association of Municipal Chiefs of Police (BCAMCP) and on Canadian Association of Chiefs of Police (CACP) committees, leading change and advancing complex multi-jurisdictional public safety issues provincially and nationally.

He has received five VPD commendations along with several community and other external awards. These include the Chief Constable’s Commendation for “courage and professionalism,” four Chief Constable Unit Citations, Police Exemplary Service Medals, and the King Charles III Coronation Medal.  He was also the recipient of the Khalsa Diwan Society and India Cultural Centre of Canada Community Exemplary Awards. He was appointed as a Member to the Order of Merit of the Police Forces in May 2016, and promoted to Officer within the Order of Merit (O.O.M.) in May 2020. The Order of Merit is “a fellowship of honour recognizing the highest qualities of citizenship, service to Canada, to the police community and to humanity at large.”