Latest news with #CoquitlamRCMP
CBC
26-02-2025
- CBC
Whistleblower in RCMP probe says he participated in group chats to 'fit in'
The whistleblower who sparked a police conduct investigation into three officers accused of participating in racist group chats has admitted to sending offensive messages of his own to fit in. During cross-examination on Tuesday, defence lawyers zeroed in on Const. Sam Sodhi's contributions to group chats at the centre of the police misconduct investigation against officers Philip Dick, Ian Solven and Mersad Mesbah, who were working in the Coquitlam detachment. The police conduct board was presented message exchanges between Sodhi and Dick in which Sodhi referred to himself as "Simran Singh Baljinder Preet," with defence lawyers suggesting he was mocking a Punjabi name. Other messages included jokes about Punjabi accents and Sodhi referencing that he was "white-washed." During his cross-examination, Sodhi said he seldom sent messages like that, but when he did, it was only because he felt the pressure to fit in. "I'm trying to fit in a very toxic environment, and I'm degrading myself to do that," he said. "The reason I came forward was because I could not take this anymore." "I know why I did it. I'm not a racist," he added. "That is wrong what I did, but what these people did was far worse." Sodhi's complaints about his experiences working for the Coquitlam RCMP sparked an internal investigation that reviewed more than 600,000 messages posted to the police agency's internal mobile data chat logs and officer group chats on WhatsApp and Signal. According to the search warrant, investigators found "frequently offensive" language used by officers, including "homophobic and racist slurs." Sodhi has alleged he was systemically bullied and harassed, which took a negative toll on his mental and physical health and his career trajectory. Dick, Solven and Mesbah are accused of harassment and discreditable conduct. Relationships questioned On Tuesday, defence lawyer Brad Kielmann suggested Sodhi could "dish it out but couldn't take it." He suggested Sodhi hurled insults at Dick, Solven, and Mesbah, which Sodhi denied. Kielmann also brought up a phone call between Sodhi and another officer, during which Sodhi began speaking negatively about Solven, who had overheard the call. "On that call, you called officer Solven a piece of shit, is that correct?" said Kielmann. "He was being a piece of shit, and he is a piece of shit," Sodhi responded. "What you didn't know was you were on speaker phone, did you?" said Kielmann. "If I was or wasn't, it doesn't matter," said Sodhi. In his testimony on Monday, Sodhi alleged he was overtly bullied and ridiculed by Solven in person, over police radios in front of other officers, and in group chats during his time at the detachment. Kielmann also referenced performance reviews that Sodhi read and signed off on during his two years there, which said he was "well-liked" by his peers. Sodhi said he was too afraid to add to his evaluation that he had any issues or conflicts with co-workers, nor did he make any requests to move watches, because he was afraid it would hurt his standing within the RCMP.
CBC
25-02-2025
- CBC
Whistleblower testifies at RCMP code of conduct hearing
A key figure has testified at the code of conduct hearing for three Coquitlam RCMP officers. The men face dismissal for allegedly participating in racist and derogatory group chats. As Jon Hernandez reports, the chats were uncovered by a fellow Mountie in 2021, who has now spoken at the hearing.
CBC
25-02-2025
- CBC
Whistleblower testifies at RCMP conduct probe into alleged racist group chat
WARNING: This story contains offensive language. A whistleblower who sparked an internal probe into the conduct of three Coquitlam RCMP officers says he witnessed blatant racist and sexist behaviour and was bullied and harassed during his time as a general duty officer. Const. Sam Sodhi testified at a code of conduct hearing alleging officers Philip Dick, Ian Solven and Mersad Mesbah fostered a toxic workplace, participated in racist and sexist group chats, and bullied him. Sodhi was assigned to the Coquitlam RCMP in 2019, joining the D Watch group of officers. He said his motivation to become a police officer was to support at-risk youth in urban areas, which was documented in a letter of intent that he had written before joining the detachment. On his second day with the Coquitlam RCMP, he alleged Dick — his trainer at the time — asked him, "What kind of brown guy are you? Are you a Surrey brown guy, or a white-washed brown guy?" Sodhi said he then referenced his intent letter: "He brought that up and said he read the entire letter to the watch at the [general duty] pit. They laughed at me. They called me a bitch. They said I was a whiny brown guy. He told me that." Sodhi alleged Dick told him he had to be "one of the boys" and "make fun of yourself" to fit in. Alleged racist remarks and behaviour Sodhi said during his time riding with Dick, he witnessed him make racist remarks directed at different ethnic groups. He alleges the officer would make jokes about wanting to Taser Black people. Sometime between February and March 2021, Sodhi said the detachment received a domestic violence call from a woman who said she had a bloody lip. He claimed Dick then joked to officers that the "stupid bitch should have worn a mouth guard." Sodhi alleged Mesbah made a similar comment. Bullying and group chats According to a search warrant related to the probe, Sodhi claimed there were two chat groups for members of the Coquitlam detachment assigned to Port Coquitlam — one for all members of the watch and a second private group chat that began on WhatsApp but then moved to Signal. He said he was told once he was "worthy" of the private chat group, "we'll add you to it." The officer claimed he was admitted to the private chat group in March 2021 but left after a few days because of the "constant negativity." He said he was then accused of "not being a team member" and encouraged to return. During his testimony, Sodhi said Solven made derogatory comments in group chats and on police chat logs related to his intelligence. He said he was also belittled by Solven on radio communications during a police response to a vehicle crash on Coast Meridian Highway in the fall of 2019. Sodhi radioed Solven, asking him to stop a car that was passing through the crash zone. "Over the air, he says, 'Don't f--king tell me what to do,'" recalled Sodhi. "Everyone can hear. This man made my life a living hell." Sodhi said he made attempts to de-escalate growing tension between himself and Solven. He said by 2021, he felt ostracized at the detachment and would get little support both in the field and for his administrative duties, which was taking a negative toll on his performance. According to the search warrant, Sodhi complained to his superiors in May 2021, and a chief superintendent mandated an investigation into five Mounties. The probe initially focused on text communications between the RCMP's own laptops — known as mobile data terminals. Investigators reviewed 600,000 messages posted to the RCMP's internal mobile data chat logs. claiming to find evidence of "frequently offensive" language usage by the three officers facing termination of "homophobic and racist slurs." Examples cited from the RCMP computers include statements like, "Why do brown guys have unusually high-pitched voices. "As an idiot woman would say, ... 'toxic," and, "I just racially profile-pulled over a car." The probe also reviewed messages from WhatsApp and Signal groups,
CBC
14-02-2025
- Politics
- CBC
B.C. police cite privacy rights as investigators probe contents of chat groups
The details of a private chat group among current and former members of the police department in Nelson, B.C., haven't been made public. But the fate of an investigation by the province's Police Complaint Commissioner into the WhatsApp chats could have implications for police across the country, as the Nelson officers mount a court challenge to the constitutionality of the seizure of their personal phones. The British Columbia police oversight body said in its 2022 investigation order that the conversations included "work-related communications, as well as pornographic images, internet memes, and other inappropriate material and comments." Current officers Adam Sutherland, Nathaniel Holt and Sarah Hannah, and former Nelson officers Jason Antsey and Robert Armstrong all say in affidavits they "considered that the WhatsApp group was private and would remain private." Their B.C. Supreme Court petition filed in August 2024 argues that the Police Act provision allowing for the search of officers' personal phones and seizure of private communications data "runs afoul" of the Canadian Charter's guarantee against unreasonable search and seizure. "However laudable, the public interest in the effective administration of police discipline does not merit such a significant invasion of privacy," the petition says. Nelson police Chief Donovan Fisher said in a statement the department "took prompt and appropriate action in this matter and no further comment is appropriate while the resulting process is ongoing." Other police chats under scrutiny Deputy police complaint commissioner Andrea Spindler said in an interview that the ongoing disciplinary process hasn't been delayed by the court case. She said unless the investigation goes to a public hearing, she couldn't say whether the chat's contents would be made public. The Nelson group are among a string of officers in three police forces in B.C. who have come under disciplinary scrutiny because of their private group chats. Three Coquitlam RCMP officers face possible dismissal at a code of conduct hearing this month over what a fellow officer called "atrocious" and racist behaviour on encrypted messaging apps WhatsApp and later Signal. Constables Ian Solven, Mersad Mesbah and Philip Dick also tried to exclude personal phone evidence from the case, but an RCMP conduct board rejected this, saying the public "puts its trust in police officers and if their wrongdoing goes unaddressed, confidence in the profession will be diminished." Comments about sexual assault victim A third case in B.C. meanwhile resulted in one former Vancouver Police Department officer being found to have committed discreditable conduct for sharing a screenshot in a private group chat that gave a disparaging account of court testimony by a female officer who was sexually assaulted. A disciplinary decision in October 2024 found former Sgt. Narinder Dosanjh shared a screenshot of the "disrespectful" commentary, written by someone else, about the court testimony by the woman whose attacker was fellow Vancouver police officer Jagraj Roger Berar. Berar was convicted in 2021 and sentenced to a year in jail for sexually assaulting his colleague. The "play-by-play" commentary in a chat group on the Signal messaging app had inaccurately predicted that there was "no way" Berar would be convicted, calling the victim a "bad drunk," who had been seen "cuddling, holding hands" with her attacker. Documents obtained by The Canadian Press show that during the investigation of a complaint to the commissioner made by the victim, Vancouver officers admitted there were several chat groups using WhatsApp and Signal among members of the department. Officers told the investigator the groups were used to arrange social gatherings, but also for police business, including overtime allocations and discussions of police files. A Freedom of Information Act request to the Vancouver Police Department produced no records about the chats. "The Signal messaging service is not an app that is authorized for use on VPD issued smartphones," Darrin Hurwitz with the department's Information and Privacy Unit said in an email. Hurwitz said even if the department had the records, they do "not relate to the business of the VPD — it is therefore excluded from disclosure."
