Episódios
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The True Blue Podcast is proud to introduce Cst. Tyrus Sleightholme (Class #174) and so happy to see him achieving his goal of serving as a police officer. Tyrus was born with Cystic Fibrosis and thankfully remained healthy as a child, fortunately once he received the live changing medication “Trikafta” his goal of becoming a police officer became very achievable.
Tyrus was very active in sports as a kid and even played college baseball before getting the new medicine. He comes to VicPD with previous experience working as a By-Law Officer and you’ll hear about his compassion for people and his drive to serve the public. Thank you to his proud father, retired Sergeant Dale Sleightholme for sharing his memories and some anecdotes about Tyrus.
Good luck to Tyrus in his policing career. Go "Red Sox"!
Sound editing done by Todd Mason.
More about the Victoria City Police Union (VCPU):- Tweet us at https://twitter.com/VicPD_Union
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- Email us at [email protected] for any media inquiries or requests to be on the True Blue Podcast
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The True Blue Podcast is honoured to share Scam Prevention information with some help from Cst. Berle Zwaan of the Saanich Police. In today’s complicated world protecting yourself from those trying to prey on you is vitally important.
Berle is now in her 30th year of policing, she has experience in Patrol, Traffic, Mountain Bike Squad, Child Abuse Investigations, Financial Crimes and Community Engagement. It was during her time in the Financial Crimes Unit that she began to see the impact fraud artists can have on the public. In her current job she spends time passing on that knowledge to her community and helping them understand ways to “Beat the Fraudster”.
Recently Berle has created a company to do presentations outside of the Saanich jurisdiction. It’s called the Outsmart The Scammer Fraud Prevention Society. Feel free to reach out to Berle if you have questions or are looking for her to make a presentation and learn how to protect yourself.
Berle Zwaan
https://www.OutsmartTheScammer.com
https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61573233827122
https://www.linkedin.com/in/berle-zwaan-bsc-86104732/
Sound editing done by Todd Mason.
More about the Victoria City Police Union (VCPU):- Tweet us at https://twitter.com/VicPD_Union
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In this episode of the True Blue Podcast, we chat with Cst. Warren Sherman a 13 year veteran of VicPD. Warren was Jamaican born and raised before moving the Florida to finish high school and then attend Wake Forest University on an athletic scholarship. Warren did some modelling and then acting in a Jamaican soap opera after graduating university. He also worked in the private security industry in Jamaica. Warren talks about wanting to be a police officer for much of his life but was hesitant to do so in his home country. He eventually decided to move his family to Victoria and start a new life in policing at age 39.
Warren is currently working in the General Investigation Section as one of the Missing Persons coordinators. He believes police work is a very important and rewarding career and certainly recommends that young people of colour consider the job if they’re interested.
Royal Palm Estate – Andre Lawson played by Warren Sherman
Royal Palm Estate (along with its spin-off, The Blackburns) is the longest-running television series in Jamaican history, and possibly the Caribbean's. It was a staple in Jamaican homes on a Sunday night from 1994 until 2015.
Sound editing done by Todd Mason.
More about the Victoria City Police Union (VCPU):- Tweet us at https://twitter.com/VicPD_Union
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- Email us at [email protected] for any media inquiries or requests to be on the True Blue Podcast
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We start out Season 5 of the True Blue Podcast talking with Constable Ari Knazan an 11 year veteran of VicPD. Ari was hired a little later in life compared to the average recruit but obviously that meant he brought a breadth of life experiences with him to the job. He has a couple of great stories behind his motivation for becoming a police officer. Victoria Police was the only department that he applied for and loved that he got hired in the city he lived and played in.
Ari worked in Patrol for the first 7 years of his career, was a Domestic Violence investigator in support of Patrol before moving to the General Investigation Section (GIS). He’s now back in Patrol and looks forward to some Field Training of rookie officers and some acting Patrol Sergeant duties. Ari’s Martial Arts background allows him to be part of the Department’s Use of Force training cadre, which he does as a secondary duty.
Ari met Chuck Norris in Las Vegas when he was 9 years old, and he says that encounter became his motivation for getting into martial arts training. One of Ari’s hobbies is podcasting; he and Chad Lyman run the “No Zoo Lions Podcast” (available on Spotify) where they focus on motivations for law enforcement officers to train hard and to understand the best ways to gain compliance. He also is a co-founder of the Invictus LEO organization with Jason Rebsch and they also use the podcast platform to better inform law enforcement. (please check out the links added below)
https://nozoolions.com/
https://invictusleo.com/invictus-podcast
Sound editing done by Todd Mason.
More about the Victoria City Police Union (VCPU):- Tweet us at https://twitter.com/VicPD_Union
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- Visit our website for information at https://truebluevic.ca/
- Email us at [email protected] for any media inquiries or requests to be on the True Blue Podcast
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Inspector Michael Brown was on duty on 28 June 2022 and served as the Critical Incident Commander (CIC) for this event. Insp. Brown is a 29-year Police veteran, a former GVERT operator and Team Leader, he talks about wanting to be a police officer as a kid and the GVERT Christmas gift he got as a 15-year-old!
“Why Waltz, when you can Rock & Roll.”Insp. Brown goes through some of the historical GVERT information and how the team has evolved and progressed since the inception. Mike also goes over the BMO bank hostage taking from his perspective as the Officer in Command of this operation. Hear Mike, discuss how Patrol 1st responders and ERT members stepped up and became heroes that day.
Inspector Brown importantly takes time to thank a few lower mainland law enforcement partners for their support and personnel contributions on the day of the bank hostage taking and for several days following. A big thank you to the police officers who have since volunteered to be the next crop of GVERT members and to those who will fill the role in the future – be safe!
Sound editing done by Todd Mason.
More about the Victoria City Police Union (VCPU):- Tweet us at https://twitter.com/VicPD_Union
- Follow us on Instagram at https://www.instagram.com/vicpd_union/
- Find us on FaceBook at https://www.facebook.com/truebluevictoria/
- Visit our website for information at https://truebluevic.ca/
- Email us at [email protected] for any media inquiries or requests to be on the True Blue Podcast
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"Your husband has been shot" - is anyone ever ready for this news?
A career in police work is inherently dangerous and the families are thereby subjected to wondering how safe their spouse or parent is while on duty.
The True Blue Podcast is delighted to have Amanda MacIntyre and Angela Reichert share their stories about what the past two years have been like after both their husbands were shot during the BMO incident.
Hear how they received information about the shooting, all the steps on that day and the many challenges over the next 2 years.
Special thanks to the Greater Victoria community for the continued support.
#GVERT
#TrueBlueSound editing done by Todd Mason.
More about the Victoria City Police Union (VCPU):- Tweet us at https://twitter.com/VicPD_Union
- Follow us on Instagram at https://www.instagram.com/vicpd_union/
- Find us on FaceBook at https://www.facebook.com/truebluevictoria/
- Visit our website for information at https://truebluevic.ca/
- Email us at [email protected] for any media inquiries or requests to be on the True Blue Podcast
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The "True Blue Podcast" is proud to chat with Cst. Steven Reichert from Saanich Police and the Greater Victoria Emergency Response Team (GVERT). He was injured during the BMO Robbery and Shootout, one gunshot wound to each leg and one to his left forearm.
Steven shares details of being shot, the amazing tactical response of his teammates and shortly thereafter the medical response efforts by GVERT and Saanich Patrol members to save his life and the lives of the other officers. Steven also talks about his personal family situation, his medical recovery process in hospital, the long physio process and the challenges of his mental and emotional wellness. Steven became addicted to opioid meds, and he describes in detail the efforts to get off those medications.
Moving forward, Steven will continue to work towards a full recovery and get back to an operational role, he looks forward to sharing his experiences in training opportunities with other ERT operators and police officers in general.
https://www.ntoa.org/conferences/tactical-conference/
Sound editing done by Todd Mason.
More about the Victoria City Police Union (VCPU):- Tweet us at https://twitter.com/VicPD_Union
- Follow us on Instagram at https://www.instagram.com/vicpd_union/
- Find us on FaceBook at https://www.facebook.com/truebluevictoria/
- Visit our website for information at https://truebluevic.ca/
- Email us at [email protected] for any media inquiries or requests to be on the True Blue Podcast
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Rollie Woods joins Tom Stamatakis in this episode to talk about Police Oversight in British Columbia. Rollie is a former Deputy Commissioner at the BC Office of the Police Complaint Commissioner (OPPC). He has 35 years of policing experience, 10 years experience on the Executive of the Vancouver Police Union (VPU) and as President of the Senior Officer's Association before moving to work in Police Professional Standards at Vancouver Police and ultimately at the OPCC.
Rollie and Tom agree that Police Oversight has an important role to play in ensuring there are professional and accountable police officers working in BC. Rollie highlights how important open communications with the public, police agencies and police unions were during his tenure at the OPCC. He also brings light to the different standards of police oversight currently in place here in British Columbia and how confusing to the public it must be.
Tom gets some comments from Rollie about police body cameras and how they might influence future Police Act investigations. How it assists with confirming what really took place and provides the public with some assurance that proper accountability is being attained. Body cameras also come with challenges related to cost, storage and personal privacy.
Office of the Police Complaint Commissioner (OPCC) https://opcc.bc.ca/Canadian Association for Civilian Oversight of Law Enforcement (CACOLE) https://cacole.ca/home-accueil-eng.shtml
Sound editing done by Todd Mason.
More about the Victoria City Police Union (VCPU):- Tweet us at https://twitter.com/VicPD_Union
- Follow us on Instagram at https://www.instagram.com/vicpd_union/
- Find us on FaceBook at https://www.facebook.com/truebluevictoria/
- Visit our website for information at https://truebluevic.ca/
- Email us at [email protected] for any media inquiries or requests to be on the True Blue Podcast
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The Victoria City Police Union (VCPU) is proud to introduce Sgt. Angela Van Eerd (Union President) and Sgt. Joan Elliott (Union Secretary).
Hear directly from these two inspirational leaders as they join Matt Waterman to discuss their rise to important positions on the Executive of the VCPU.
The VCPU was organized in 1946 and after 77 years the members have elected their first female President!Sound editing done by Todd Mason.
More about the Victoria City Police Union (VCPU):- Tweet us at https://twitter.com/VicPD_Union
- Follow us on Instagram at https://www.instagram.com/vicpd_union/
- Find us on FaceBook at https://www.facebook.com/truebluevictoria/
- Visit our website for information at https://truebluevic.ca/
- Email us at [email protected] for any media inquiries or requests to be on the True Blue Podcast
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In celebration of Black History Month, the Victoria City Police Union (VCPU) is proud to speak with Tim Kituri who is currently serving as a Provincial appointee on the Victoria and Esquimalt Police Board.
Tim came to Canada a little over 20 years ago and now resides in Esquimalt. He is originally from Kenya and tells a very unique story while living in the capital Nairobi about a specific incident where he was in fear of the police. He also shares a positive story about his first police interaction in Halifax when he was a student at University.
Tim discusses some of his new experiences as a police board member over the first 9 months of his service. Learning more about who is behind the badge has given him a new appreciation for police officer dedication and commitment to the community.Here is a link to Tim's impressive educational accomplishments:
https://www.linkedin.com/in/timothy1kituri/Sound editing done by Todd Mason.
More about the Victoria City Police Union (VCPU):- Tweet us at https://twitter.com/VicPD_Union
- Follow us on Instagram at https://www.instagram.com/vicpd_union/
- Find us on FaceBook at https://www.facebook.com/truebluevictoria/
- Visit our website for information at https://truebluevic.ca/
- Email us at [email protected] for any media inquiries or requests to be on the True Blue Podcast
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Erin Toplak, President of the Vancouver Island Chapter of "Beyond The Blue" joins VCPU Director and host Tom Stamatakis on this episode. Tom and Erin are life partners and share some of their own struggles of being a partner to a police officer.
VI Beyond The Blue (BTB) is a non-profit organization that provides peer support to the families and spouses of police officers. BTB wants to create a safe and comfortable place for family members to reach out to and find support. Erin reminds everyone that a specific incident doesn't need to happen before you reach out to BTB and she encourages families to be pro-active in finding a strong support network.
Find important links below:
https://www.vancouverislandbeyondtheblue.com/
[email protected]Instagram
https://www.instagram.com/vancouverisland_btb/Facebook
https://www.facebook.com/people/Vancouver-Island-Beyond-The-Blue/100087399397694/
Call direct to Canada Beyond The Blue: 1-647-249-7121Sound editing done by Todd Mason.
More about the Victoria City Police Union (VCPU):- Tweet us at https://twitter.com/VicPD_Union
- Follow us on Instagram at https://www.instagram.com/vicpd_union/
- Find us on FaceBook at https://www.facebook.com/truebluevictoria/
- Visit our website for information at https://truebluevic.ca/
- Email us at [email protected] for any media inquiries or requests to be on the True Blue Podcast
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Meet the most important “Prevention and Intervention” team in Greater Victoria that focuses on Youth Exploitation. The incomparable Mia Golden has been in the business of Youth and Family Counselling for about 30 years and is the backbone of MYST. Her current partner is Cst. Gord Magee, he brings 26 years policing experience to the team and has been attached to MYST the previous 3 years.
Hear from Mia and Gord directly on what exactly their team does on a daily basis and how involved they are with youth and families being targeted by predators looking to take advantage of vulnerable youth.
The Victoria City Police Union (VCPU) wants to advocate for new and increased funding streams to support this team and their mandate of protecting our children. The workload is heavy and critically important.
26:45- 28:36 Hear direct from Mia on the issue of losing Police Liaison Officers in our Schools, she speaks from many different perspectives – as a youth worker in the community, as a parent, and as a black person. She recognizes the importance of building relationships with police officers ahead of a serious incident, is in her words, “so important through a trauma-informed lens.”
https://www.vicnews.com/news/new-funding-aims-to-stop-predators-from-exploiting-greater-victoria-youth-653739
https://pacificcentrefamilyservices.org/counselling/crime-reduction-and-exploitation-diversion/Sound editing done by Todd Mason.
More about the Victoria City Police Union (VCPU):- Tweet us at https://twitter.com/VicPD_Union
- Follow us on Instagram at https://www.instagram.com/vicpd_union/
- Find us on FaceBook at https://www.facebook.com/truebluevictoria/
- Visit our website for information at https://truebluevic.ca/
- Email us at [email protected] for any media inquiries or requests to be on the True Blue Podcast
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Cst. Angelina "Ange" Atkinson is one of the 6 new recruits in Class #172. Ange comes to VicPD as an experienced BC Deputy Sheriff, looking to expand her law enforcement career into the policing world. She is a rare "home grown" Victorian, a graduate of Lambrick Park Secondary, the Camosun College Criminal Justice Program and also a graduate of the Greater Victoria Police Camp Program.
Ange is no stranger to training at the Justice Institute of BC, she completed her Sheriff training in 2019 and returned as an use of force instructor for the Sheriff Academy in 2023. She is now halfway through her Police Academy training and really looking forward to her Block II field training in the streets of Esquimalt and Victoria.
Anyone considering entering the "recruiting process" at VicPD should listen to this episode - Ange's story of perseverance and commitment to get hired is inspiring. We wish her good luck in her new career!Sound editing done by Todd Mason.
More about the Victoria City Police Union (VCPU):- Tweet us at https://twitter.com/VicPD_Union
- Follow us on Instagram at https://www.instagram.com/vicpd_union/
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- Visit our website for information at https://truebluevic.ca/
- Email us at [email protected] for any media inquiries or requests to be on the True Blue Podcast
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In the final episode of Season 3, we get an update from Cst. Chris Allen who has now been working for VicPD for 2 years. Chris is working in the Patrol Division; he has been passing on his experiences and knowledge as a Field Training Officer (FTO) to new recruits. Chris is a former high school teacher, and we believe well suited to be training new recruits in their Block II.
Chris gives us insight into some of an operational police officer’s daily functions; he shares what he does to maintain his personal wellness; and he comments on de-criminalization of drugs from a patrol officer perspective.
Sound editing done by Todd Mason.
More about the Victoria City Police Union (VCPU):- Tweet us at https://twitter.com/VicPD_Union
- Follow us on Instagram at https://www.instagram.com/vicpd_union/
- Find us on FaceBook at https://www.facebook.com/truebluevictoria/
- Visit our website for information at https://truebluevic.ca/
- Email us at [email protected] for any media inquiries or requests to be on the True Blue Podcast
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"The White Hatter" is a team of on-line professionals helping teens and their families with everything from sextortions to extensive digital literacy training. Darren Laur is a retired Staff Sergeant with 30 years service at the Victoria Police Department.
The White Hatter has assisted 294 children and their families, 18 of those identify as females and the remainder teen boys – the youngest being 12 years old.
The team continues to teach digital literacy and internet safety to students, parents and caregivers, businesses and organizations.
Visit their website for more information: https://thewhitehatter.ca/Sound editing done by Todd Mason.
More about the Victoria City Police Union (VCPU):- Tweet us at https://twitter.com/VicPD_Union
- Follow us on Instagram at https://www.instagram.com/vicpd_union/
- Find us on FaceBook at https://www.facebook.com/truebluevictoria/
- Visit our website for information at https://truebluevic.ca/
- Email us at [email protected] for any media inquiries or requests to be on the True Blue Podcast
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On this episode we chat with Cst. Matt King about VicPD's new OSI Dog. "Daisy" was sworn in October 2023 to be the first Operational Stress Intervention Dog at VicPD. She is a 3 yr old Golden Lab and comes from a long line of purpose bred dogs that are trained to help officers dealing with trauma and stress. Daisy came to VicPD through a partnership with Wounded Warriors Canada.
Police work includes officers attending high stress incidents repeatedly over a long career and the result can often be deterioration of one's mental health. Daisy will be there to provide comfort and joy to every employee.Sound editing done by Todd Mason.
More about the Victoria City Police Union (VCPU):- Tweet us at https://twitter.com/VicPD_Union
- Follow us on Instagram at https://www.instagram.com/vicpd_union/
- Find us on FaceBook at https://www.facebook.com/truebluevictoria/
- Visit our website for information at https://truebluevic.ca/
- Email us at [email protected] for any media inquiries or requests to be on the True Blue Podcast
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The True Blue Podcast has paused releasing further episodes related to the BMO Shooting incident from 28 June 2022 that involved officers potentially facing discipline.
Future episodes related to the shooting will be released when the OPCC investigation is concluded.Sound editing done by Todd Mason.
More about the Victoria City Police Union (VCPU):- Tweet us at https://twitter.com/VicPD_Union
- Follow us on Instagram at https://www.instagram.com/vicpd_union/
- Find us on FaceBook at https://www.facebook.com/truebluevictoria/
- Visit our website for information at https://truebluevic.ca/
- Email us at [email protected] for any media inquiries or requests to be on the True Blue Podcast
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You won't want to miss this episode! Mike Jarosz was 1 of 7 GVERT members inside the van that took multiple rounds from two gunmen. Mike is a TEMS Medic on the team and he shares amazing details from that horrible day. He also provides some remarkable insight into the stresses police officers have to deal with during and after a critical incident. The candidness of his psychological struggles are refreshing and speaks to why mental health supports are so important for all police officers.
GVERT - Greater Victoria Emergency Response Team
TEMS - Tactical Emergency Medical Support
NTOA - National Tactical Officers Association
**Trigger Warning**This episode discusses the topic of a bank robbery and shooting where 2 people died and multiple others were seriously injured, some of the content may be distressing to the listener. This series of episodes was created with the objective that talking about the subject could in part provide the listener with more information about the event from many different perspectives. It could also provide the police officers, their families and others that were involved with an avenue to come forward and talk about their experiences and to encourage others suffering from mental or emotional distress to seek trauma support by reaching out to a professional or an advocate.
enter more hereSound editing done by Todd Mason.
More about the Victoria City Police Union (VCPU):- Tweet us at https://twitter.com/VicPD_Union
- Follow us on Instagram at https://www.instagram.com/vicpd_union/
- Find us on FaceBook at https://www.facebook.com/truebluevictoria/
- Visit our website for information at https://truebluevic.ca/
- Email us at [email protected] for any media inquiries or requests to be on the True Blue Podcast
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Ben King is a tactical member of the Greater Victoria Emergency Response Team (GVERT) and took a rifle round in the leg on 28 June 2022 in an effort to keep our community safe. Hear Ben tell his story of being shot, the chaos at the scene, the heroes at the scene, the medical staff that put him and his friends back together, his long recovery to walk unassisted again. Ben shares his perspective on life and what's important and thanks his family, friends, colleagues and the community for their support.
**Trigger Warning**This episode discusses the topic of a bank robbery and shooting where 2 people died and multiple others were seriously injured, some of the content may be distressing to the listener. This series of episodes was created with the objective that talking about the subject could in part provide the listener with more information about the event from many different perspectives. It could also provide the police officers, their families and others that were involved with an avenue to come forward and talk about their experiences and to encourage others suffering from mental or emotional distress to seek trauma support by reaching out to a professional or an advocate.
Sound editing done by Todd Mason.
More about the Victoria City Police Union (VCPU):- Tweet us at https://twitter.com/VicPD_Union
- Follow us on Instagram at https://www.instagram.com/vicpd_union/
- Find us on FaceBook at https://www.facebook.com/truebluevictoria/
- Visit our website for information at https://truebluevic.ca/
- Email us at [email protected] for any media inquiries or requests to be on the True Blue Podcast
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Hear the amazing story of Retired Sergeant Laurie White (RCMP) and her struggles to survive and persevere after being shot on duty in November 1998 while serving a search warrant at a residence in Kitimat, BC. She was air lifted to Vancouver and due to severe damage to her right leg Laurie awoke to finding out that her leg had been amputated just below her right knee. After ten painful months and numerous failures she was able to return to full uniform duty with the RCMP in Kitimat.
Now 25 years later, Laurie is a proud mother of 2 children and retired from policing. She also talks about her connections and willingness to share her story with Victoria and Saanich Police Officers who suffered gunshot wounds on 28 June 2022. Her book “10-33 An Officer Down Steps Back Up” is an emotional memoir and highly recommended for supporters of law enforcement everywhere.
https://www.linkedin.com/in/laurie-white-14643874/Sound editing done by Todd Mason.
More about the Victoria City Police Union (VCPU):- Tweet us at https://twitter.com/VicPD_Union
- Follow us on Instagram at https://www.instagram.com/vicpd_union/
- Find us on FaceBook at https://www.facebook.com/truebluevictoria/
- Visit our website for information at https://truebluevic.ca/
- Email us at [email protected] for any media inquiries or requests to be on the True Blue Podcast
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