Meet Constable Davor Tolja: Eric Hamber’s School Liaison Officer

Photo Credit: City News

In November 2022, the Vancouver Board of Education voted to bring back the School Liaison Officer (SLO) program. Previously cancelled in April 2021, the new program is guided by a revised Memorandum of Understanding. This memorandum was a collaboration between the Vancouver School Board (VSB) and Vancouver Police Department (VPD), with feedback from the 2021 SLO engagement, the Indigenous Education Council, and the VPD’s Indigenous Advisory Committee.

The program was implemented at the beginning of the 2023-2024 school year, bringing a fresh but familiar face to Hamber’s halls.

Davor Tolja (School Liaison) has been a member of the VPD for 20 years. He has worked in a variety of areas, from identity theft to property theft, before working as an SLO at Hamber during COVID-19. When the program was disbanded, he went to head the VPD’s fighter drone program.

“When this opportunity came back up, I was the first person to be like, “I'd like to come back”,” said Const. Tolja. He explained that he prefers working with youth, especially after almost 20 years of working with adults. 

“I'm actually a product of the school,” he said, as he once was a student at Hamber and Vancouver College in the 1980s. “To do the work here again is awesome. Walking through these halls 35 years later, you’re like ‘wow, nothing's changed.’”

Const. Tolja is a father of two kids, one of which is is high school. “I really don't have much free time, raising two kids,” he said. “It's really taking them to soccer practices, volleyball practices, pretty much being a dad.” 

He added that he used to enjoy golf, though he hasn’t had time to participate in the activity in three years. Recently, though, he has taken an interest in drones. “Because I had a bit of drone experience, now I'm trying to do more drone work, and maybe a little bit of practice flying time.”

He’s thinking about potentially filming real estate listings because of his knowledge of drones. “My buddies are in the industry,” he said. “If I could try to do some side work, maybe I could set something up in the future.”

“I'm no more than just another support hub for the Hamber community,” said Const. Tolja when asked about his role as an SLO. He listed counsellors and administrators as other support resources for students. “I'm just another cog in the wheel.”

Const. Tolja said that because of his familiar face and understanding, he is “an easier person to deal with than your regular [VPD] member.” He shared that he was once a student as well and has been in trouble before, and that if a student wanted to speak with him, it would be “completely objective because [he’s] here to listen.”

“I always tell [students], no matter how bad it is, we can always fix it,” he said. “We're not here to give students or anybody a hard time at all. It is actually the opposite of that.”

Const. Tolja thinks that his first year back at Hamber is like a trial, and that it has been different. He’s noted that students directly impacted by Covid might be having a bit of a challenge. “What I'd like to do is see how the students feel and be more open,” he said. “I don't want to be too intrusive because they may not be ready for it.”

Const. Tolja’s regular working hours are Tuesday and Friday. In addition to Hamber, he works with Vancouver College, Talmud Torah, King David, Jules Verne, as well as all of Hamber’s elementary school feeders.

He wants students to know that if he isn’t at school, he can be contacted through email, Instagram, or Snapchat. “I try to be in my office as much as I can,” he added. “This is my home base.”