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 ultimately the Chief Constable’s position in 2024.

Chief Chanin is obviously very committed to her community and her people and it was a pleasure to have her kick-off our Area Chiefs Series.

Episode 2: Chief Ian Lawson – Central Saanich Police Service                     05 Sep

Episode 3: Superintendent Todd Preston – Westshore Detachment           12 Sep

Episode 4: Chief Dean Duthie – Saanich Police Department                          19 Sep

Episode 5: Chief Del Manak – Victoria Police Department                               26 Sep

https://oakbaypolice.org/careers/

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

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 48 hours came to fruition.  

Best of all they surpassed the goal of raising $100,000 for ICKA!

How to donate to Island Kids Cancer Association: https://ikca.ca/donate/

Visit the End2End webpage for more info: https://www.end2endcancer.com/

ICKA supported by Trek Bicycle Store: https://www.trekbikesvictoria.com/

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

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 Police, Will has decided to pass along his forensic experiences and knowledge to any interested listener through the ForensicsWorld Podcast.  Links to his podcast and Instagram page are attached.

https://podcasts.apple.com/ca/podcast/forensicsworld/id1813755329

https://www.instagram.com/forensicsworld/?hl=en

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

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 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

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

- 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

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

[email protected]

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

- 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

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

- 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

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

- 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

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

"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
#TrueBlue

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