On January 23, 2015, it was announced Chu was planning to retire after a 36-year career with Vancouver Police [1] and he did officially do so on May 6, 2015, upon the swearing-in of his successor, Adam Palmer.

[3] In 1973 as a 14-year-old paperboy, he was confronted by the Riley Park gang as he recalled: "Our shack at 26th and Main won recognition for the fewest complaints in the city.

[2] A fellow alumni of Sir Charles Tupper was the gangster Bindy Johal, a man whom Chu was to pursue as a policeman.

[5] Chu became a deputy chief in 2003, in charge of the Support Services division, which handles human resources, information technology, planning and communications.

[citation needed] In July 2007, he was placed in charge of the Operations Support division, which oversees criminal intelligence, emergency response and the gang and drug squads.

[5] In May 2007, the Governor General of Canada awarded Chu the Order of Merit of Police Forces for service beyond the call of duty.

Chu assumed command of the department on August 14, the day after the police fatally shot Paul Boyd on Granville Street.

[14] Chu served as Chief Constable during the 2010 Winter Olympics and as riots erupted in downtown Vancouver at the conclusion of game seven of the 2011 Stanley Cup finals.

[15] On 30 July 2010, the Supreme Court of Canada lifted the publication ban imposed in 2002 relating to the prosecution of the serial killer Robert Picton who killed 49 women.

[17] Through the investigation of Picton's killings took place prior to Chu becoming police chief in 2007, he found himself facing a firestorm of criticism when the publication ban was lifted in 2010.

[18] On 15 September 2010, Ashley Mackiskinic, a First Nations woman and a drug addict was found dead after falling to her death from the fifth floor of the Regent Hotel on the Downtown Eastside.

[15] On 6 October 2010, Chu took part in a "townhall meeting" to discuss Mackiskinic's death where he and the police department were accused of indifference to the frequent murders of the female drug addicts and/or prostitutes of the Downtown Eastside.

[15] Angela Marie MacDougall, the director of the Battered Women's Support Services, stated at the meeting that Mackinskinc was murdered, saying: "The rapes and beatings are standard punishment.

[34] On August 18, 2023, Jim Chu was appointed by the Prime Minister as a member of the National Security Intelligence Review Agency.