The VCPU is pleased to add this episode to the Greater Victoria Area Chiefs Series and introduce the first ever female Chief Constable for the Victoria Police Department, Fiona Wilson! Host, Tom Stamatakis helps us all to get to know Chief Wilson a little bit better. Chief Wilson talks about the Esquimalt & Victoria “framework agreement” and how in her view it isn’t working well, specifically for the needs of either community or the police department. Tom and Fiona talk about ...

In the final episode of this series, we got a chance to chat with Chief Del Manak before he sailed off into retirement. Chief Manak made it through a 35-year policing career and spent the past nearly 10 years as the Chief Constable. A graduate of JIBC Class #44, recruited by Vancouver Police, however Del spent the majority of his career with the Victoria Police Department. Del tells us about his career path and some details about why he chose police work. It becomes clear th...

Thanks to Chief Dean Duthie from Saanich Police for participating in our podcast series. Dean is the 18th Chief of Police for Saanich since 1906. Chief Duthie had a variety of experiences throughout his career progression. His skills took him to many important investigative roles that included the Saanich Drug Enforcement Team and the Major Crime Unit. As many of our listeners know, Saanich Police members ran towards the sound of gunfire during the 2022 bank robbery in their...

It was great to chat with Todd before his retirement from his RCMP career which started over 28 years ago. After graduating from Depot, the RCMP sent him to Alberta as a young officer. In fact, he was so young that the Mounties sent him to work as an undercover operator because of those young looks! His career continued in the Yukon and throughout BC for a few years before his promotion to Sergeant which landed him in the Westshore Detachment. He had a few short-term j...

Chief Constable Ian Lawson started his policing career in the RCMP back in 1988. He’s spent most of his RCMP career on Vancouver Island and after 32 years’ service he accepted the Chief Constable position in Central Saanich. Ian was the Primary Investigator on the BC Rail corruption scandal where Bribery and Fraud charges were pursued. One of Ian’s favourite career moves was to become the Detachment Commander in Shawnigan Lake, a position he relates closely to his current j...

Chief Constable Julie Chanin is the first ever female Chief of any police department in Greater Victoria. Julie started her policing career in January 2000 as part of the millennial troop at the RCMP Training Depot in Regina. Julie’s RCMP career was spent on Vancouver Island, first in Port McNeil for 5 years and then to the Westshore for another 7 years before making the transition to Oak Bay. Julie served as Union President in Oak Bay before taking the Deputy Chief job and ...

In this episode, we chat with Andy Dunstan to discuss his brilliant idea to create the End2End Cycling Relay in support of Island Kids Cancer Association (ICKA). Andy is a former police officer and has been supporting kids with cancer for over 20 years. He talks about how this unique fundraising event got started, the goals of supporting local families stricken by childhood cancer and so much more about how the inaugural ride with 7 of his friends over 1000 kilometers in less than...

Will Dodds is the host of the ForensicsWorld Podcast and a recently retired Sergeant from the Saanich Police Department. Will began his police career in 2002, worked in Patrol Division to learn the basics and later was drawn to being a “crash analyst” in the Traffic Section, then transferred over to the Forensic Section as a Constable, and afterward was lucky enough to be promoted and to finish his police career as the NCO in charge of the Forensics Section. Since retiring from Saanich ...

On this episode of the True Blue Podcast, host Matt Waterman talks specifics about the Ron Kirkwood Police Act decision. It’s clear the BC Police Act process has failed again. Hear a little bit about how things unfolded over the past close to 6 years and most importantly learn a little bit about Ron Kirkwood, Medal of Valour recipient. https://www.timescolonist.com/opinion/comment-system-failed-everyone-in-lisa-rauch-case-10809432 Sound editing done by Todd Mason. More about t...

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 co...

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...

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 h...

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. &nb...

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....

"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 t...

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. Ste...

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 To...

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...

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 firs...

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. E...