Anthony Allison Milo

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Dr. Anthony Allison Milo, MD-PhD, COM (b. 19 September 1960 in Vancouver; age 61), is the current Chief Constable of the British Columbia Provincial Police (BCPP). He assumed office on 7 August 2015. Milo joined the BCPP in 1991 as a police constable, before which he served as an officer in the Canadian Army.

Biography[edit | edit source]

Early life[edit | edit source]

Anthony Allison Milo was born on 19 August 1960 at St. Paul's Hospital in Coal Harbour, Vancouver, to Mr. John Kilpatrick Milo and Mrs. Audrey Aileen Milo (née MacLean), who immigrated to Canada from South Lanarkshire, Scotland in the summer of 1959 with their three elder daughters, Skye (b. 1950), Aileen (b. 1954) and Saundra (b. 1956). The Milos would have no further children, leaving Anthony the youngest, and the only born in Canada. The family bought a house in the Vancouver borough of Strathcona, and the parents continued their professions in Canada, Mr. Milo working as an automotive repair technician and Mrs. Milo as an advertiser. The children attended Lord Strathcona Elementary School and subsequently Britannia Secondary School, from which they all graduated. The three Milo sisters each ended up attending the University of British Columbia (UBC), whence they each received a PhD (Skye in psychology, Aileen in sociology, and Saundra in political science), while in 1984 Anthony instead received and MA in criminology from the University of Victoria in the neighbouring province of Vancouver Island.

Military career[edit | edit source]

At first, Mr. Milo worked as a brakeman on the many railyards of Vancouver following his return to his hometown in September 1984, but in late 1985 was accepted into the Canadian Army's active duty basic training program (BMQ), located at CFB Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu in Québec. Following Milo's successful completion of BMQ in May 1986, in which he outperformed all 21 fellow qualifiers, as well as passing all physical fitness and health tests with flying colours, Milo was transferred in September of the same year to CFB Nipigon to undergo advanced CAMSOFCOM (special forces) training.

Following a series of intensive, well-rounded training programs and thorough physical testing at CFP Nipigon hosted by a semi-automated training centre called the CANAUXSIX (with each candidate receiving a maximum of three tries in the testing porting), passing candidates (15% on average) must pass a final written exam; candidates have up to two nights and a day of rest between the CANAUXSIX program and the final written essay. Those who pass the written exam are welcomed as successful special forces candidates. Following Milo's CANAUXSIX training and subsequent tests (which he passed the first time round) and his final exam (which he passed with a 97.7% score), Milo graduated in September 1988 as a Canadian Special Forces Operative, and subsequently applied and was accepted to CANSOFCOMS's 7th Commando Unit, where he would spend his first two-and-a-half years (April 1989 to August 1991). On 5 September 1991, Milo was promoted to the rank of second lieutenant and thus officially became an officer.

Between 11 September and 16 November, 1991, Milo and the 7th Commando Unit, assigned to the CSS Elizabeth aircraft carrier (at the time anchored in the Indian Ocean about 330 nautical miles west of Western Australia), played the role of security for a joint Australian and Canadian-funded underwater research project, which due to its high potential of discovering new oilfields, required a military level of security. The maritime scientific project finished in mid November 1991, and between January and June 1992, Milo and the 7th Commando Unit took part in a major peacekeeping operation in East Timor, where three of Milo's comrades were killed. In August 1992, Milo was promoted to lieutenant.

Starting in January 1993, Milo was reassigned to the 2nd Engineers' Regiment, and as a CANSOFCOM operative, given the role of leading a platoon of commandos tasked with protecting the regiment's engineers. Milo was promoted to the rank of captain in February 1993 and to the rank of major the following September, after a series of successful defences of the 2nd Engineers' Regiment while stationed in Mexico and later Honduras. Milo played a part in several of CANSOFCOM's largest engagements of the early 1990s; he received an honourable discharge on 17 August 1993.

Police career[edit | edit source]

Milo was hired by the British Columbia Provincial Police (BCPP) in April 1994. From September of the same year, Milo studied at the Kennedy Police Academy as a cadet constable, from which he graduated in May 1996 as a probationary constable. His career as a BCPP constable officially began on 1 September 1996, the first six months of which Milo was a probationary constable, the lowest BCPP rank with some extra restrictions in place (namely, probationary constables are not permitted to make an arrest without their sergeant's approval, may not use and/or threaten the use of a firearm without sergeant approval, may not drive a police cruiser solo, and must report all daily on-duty activities in their police notepad at a level of detail much higher than expected of non-probationary constables, along with some other, milder restrictions).

On 1 March 1997, Milo's probationary status was lifted, thereafter beginning his career as a regular police constable. In January 1999, Constable Milo and his senior partner Constable Thomas McBride were called to a domestic disturbance at a single-family home in Marpole. Upon arriving at the scene, Constable McBride knocked at the door (which was at first unanswered) and further attempted to get the occupants' attention by introducing himself through the door, while Constable Milo went around back to check on the situation. While peering in through the back door's mostly-blind-covered window, Constable Milo could see three individuals in the room: two on opposite sides of the front door facing one another, one standing with a sawed-off shotgun in hand, the other two sitting on a sofa nearby with a similar shotgun laying on the kitchen table. Before Constable Milo could alert his partner to the danger, one of the occupants swiftly opened and closed the front door, pulling Constable McBride in at gunpoint; from what Constable Milo could gather and what Constable McBride would later report, the suspect who held Constable McBride at gunpoint planned to use him as a hostage should more police show up. Constable Milo immediately called in the situation to the district's tactical unit, which gave an ETA of ten minutes. Constable Milo could tell from peering about the room through the back door window that the occupants were heavy methamphetamine users; from their semi-intelligible conversation, Constable Milo gathered that the suspects planned to shoot Constable McBride and attempt to escape. With no time to lose, Constable Milo tossed a flashbang into the domicile through some broken glass, temporarily incapacitating the occupants. Constable Milo immediately burst in through the back door, tore from the standing occupant the shotgun, and arrested the three dazed occupants, possibly saving Constable McBride's life.

Constable Milo was lauded the following day by his unit and many of his station coworkers, and in August 1997, received a the BCPP's Silver Medal, the second-highest achievement recognised by the constabulary. Between early 1998 and early 2000, Constable Milo worked in the Narcotics Directorate, and played a major role in several high-profile operations, undercover operations, arrests and takedowns, and between January and September 1999 had the highest number of confidential informants (CIs) in his contacts of any Vancouver-based narcotics officer. Due to the multiple arrests which were made possible by Constable Milo's CI-provided information and the March 1997 act of heroism, in March 2000 Constable Milo was promoted to the rank of sergeant, and given his own unit of 5 constables within the Narcotics Directorate.