True Blue Podcast

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In Episode #1 we hear from 3 legends of the Greater Victoria Emergency Response Team (GVERT), Chief Derek Egan, Chief Scott Green and Inspector Drew Robertson all three of these men are former Team Leaders (TL) of GVERT.

Chief Egan (Ret'd) takes us all through the early history of how ERT in the Greater Victoria area was developed, the process of becoming an authorized team and details on the training that was established to form the base of what is now one of North America’s most professional SWAT units.

Chief Green (Ret'd) joined ERT in 1991, was appointed to lead one half of the team during the 1994 Commonwealth Games and shortly after that was Team Leader for 4 1/2 years before leaving ERT in mid 2000.

Inspector Drew Robertson joined ERT in 2010 and quickly became the first ever Explosive Entry expert for GVERT.  Drew was Team Leader for 5 years before leaving ERT in 2020.

All 3 of these men were given the reigns of GVERT and provided the highest levels of professionalism and leadership.

Congratulations to all GVERT members who have served the past 50 years.

Sound editing done by Todd Mason.

More about the Victoria City Police Union (VCPU):

-       Follow us on Instagram at https://www.instagram.com/true_blue_podcast/

-       Visit our website for information at https://truebluevic.ca/

-       Connect via the "Fan Mail" link attached to any episode.

Send us Fan Mail

True Blue Shout Outs

1.      South Island Police Academy (SIPA)

2.      911 Operators (E-Comm 911)

3.      Constable Sukhvinder “Suki” Sunger (Vancouver Police Pipe Band) 

In this episode you get to meet Constable Jill Shields who joined VicPD in 2014 and is one of the few born and raised in Victoria.  Jill worked for hospital fire/security and served as a Reserve Constable for a couple of years prior to being hired at VicPD.  

Jill worked for 5 years in Patrol before moving to the Focused Enforcement Team (FET) Beat Squad to work with the downtown issues like homelessness, mental health struggles and addictions within the street population.  She returned to Patrol Division for a time and currently works in the new downtown Foot Patrol Unit. 

Jill shares some personal experiences of having her older brother living in the streets with an addiction problem since he was 16 years old.  Her views about those with addictions reflect her personal and professional experiences and clearly her compassion and empathy are exceptional.

Jill’s brother succumbed to his addiction after living in that environment for 17 years, she shares what happened that day while on duty.  It’s an amazing story!

Sound editing done by Todd Mason.

More about the Victoria City Police Union (VCPU):

-       Follow us on Instagram at https://www.instagram.com/true_blue_podcast/

-       Visit our website for information at https://truebluevic.ca/

-       Connect via the "Fan Mail" link attached to any episode.

Send us Fan Mail

True Blue Shout Outs

1.      Our Listeners – 130 different Countries

2.      VicPD Jail Staff

3.      Emergency Room (ER) Hospital Staff

 In this episode you get to meet Recruit Constable Nour Rashead who is participating in the very first “South Island Police Academy” training class, aka SIPA #1.  Nour has an amazing life story and shares with us so many of her experiences leading up to her opportunity to become a VicPD Police Recruit.

Nour was born in Syria and emigrated to Canada at the age of 2.  She is a Vic High School graduate and also completed a degree in Criminal Justice via Camosun College and the University of Fraser Valley.  Nour went back to Syria in late 2010 to visit family and friends, but shortly after her arrival the Arab Spring Uprising (Syrian Civil War) began in early 2011.  Syrian officials locked down the country, and she wasn’t able to return to Canada for about 1 year.

This type of life experience is one of the reasons Nour chose a career in law enforcement.  Her first job, post childbirth, was at the Victoria Law Courts as a Court Clerk.  After a few years, she was promoted to Court Clerk Supervisor and then expanded into the Court Registry and worked as a Justice of the Peace.  In 2023, Nour got a job in the Records Division at VicPD.  Working in the VicPD building and later hearing about the SIPA idea she took big steps to get ready to become a police officer.  Her life story is very inspiring.

Good luck to “Recruit Rashead” in her policing career.

Sound editing done by Todd Mason.

More about the Victoria City Police Union (VCPU):

-       Follow us on Instagram at https://www.instagram.com/true_blue_podcast/

-       Visit our website for information at https://truebluevic.ca/

-       Connect via the "Fan Mail" link attached to any episode.

Send us Fan Mail

True Blue Shout Outs

1.      Bill Turner

2.      Laurie White

3.      Daryl Baswick

In this episode you get to meet Recruit Constable Jacy Brydges from JIBC Class #180.  Jacy is a long-time listener of the True Blue Podcast and claims it was a primary reason that she applied to join VicPD.  Cst. Brydges has a degree in Environmental Studies and experience working for Saanich Police in their Records Division.

Big thanks to Jacy for sharing her road to getting hired as a police officer.  Prospective recruits should definitely listen to this episode.  We wish her good luck in her future Field Training and to a successful graduation at the JIBC.

Sound editing done by Todd Mason.

More about the Victoria City Police Union (VCPU):

-       Follow us on Instagram at https://www.instagram.com/true_blue_podcast/

-       Visit our website for information at https://truebluevic.ca/

-       Connect via the "Fan Mail" link attached to any episode.

Send us Fan Mail

Union President Angela Van Eerd sits down with newly hired Deputy Chief Natalie Hiltz on this episode.  By the end you will learn a lot about our new Deputy Chief. Natalie "Nat" grew up in Ontario, is the daughter of a retired RCMP officer and has always wanted to be a cop!

While her now husband was being recruited by the Peel Regional Police she was present for the "home visit" portion of his hiring and essentially was "soon to be hired" when the recruiting officer met her.  Nat played Rugby at Carleton University "Go Ravens" and completed her first degree in Criminology.  She began her policing career at 25 years old, prior to coming West she spent 3 years as Deputy Chief in the Greater Sudbury Police Service.  Nat is a mother of 2 grown children and somehow found time to get a Master's degree at Cambridge University in England.

The new Deputy Chief has already described VicPD's culture climate as "a breath of fresh air".  It sounds like her next vacation will be a trip to Japan for some Sushi!  Of interest, she declares her favourite coffee date would be with Marcus Aurelius!

Big warm welcome to Deputy Hiltz.

Sound editing done by Todd Mason.

More about the Victoria City Police Union (VCPU):

-       Follow us on Instagram at https://www.instagram.com/true_blue_podcast/

-       Visit our website for information at https://truebluevic.ca/

-       Connect via the "Fan Mail" link attached to any episode.

Send us Fan Mail

The Quiet Professional is a weekly podcast and media brand by Vigilant Media Inc. hosted by Nathan Romas. It provides candid explorations of topics centered around national security, intelligence, law enforcement, and justice, featuring guest experts ranging from former Navy SEALs and DEA agents to police officials.

Growing up in Winnipeg Nathan became a big Minnesota Vikings fan!  Despite living in an area where gang activity was part of regular life, he joined the RCMP in 2011 and then moved to the Edmonton Police Service in 2013.  His police career includes work in the gang suppression team, public safety unit, union/association director, patrol sergeant.

Nathan’s podcast has one of the widest range of topics and guests.  You can find it on Spotify and Apple podcasts.

https://thequietprofessional.quantumhosting.ca/

https://www.instagram.com/tqp780/

Sound editing done by Todd Mason.

More about the Victoria City Police Union (VCPU):

-       Follow us on Instagram at https://www.instagram.com/true_blue_podcast/

-       Visit our website for information at https://truebluevic.ca/

-       Connect via the "Fan Mail" link attached to any episode.

Send us Fan Mail

 ** Apologies for some poor audio in this episode. **

Thanks to Donnie Graves (serving RCMP member) for chatting with us about “Operation Pegasus” and to Laurie White (retired RCMP) for agreeing to jump out of a perfectly good airplane!

Donnie has been skydiving for his entire adult life and volunteers with Operation Pegasus which is intended to support Veterans, Serving Military and First Responders that are considered to be at a greater risk for developing Operational Stress Injuries (OSI) and Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) than most other occupations.

Good luck to Laurie who will be “stepping outside her comfort zone” and jumping at the end of July 2026 and speaking to all the other participants about her challenges and successes since being shot in the line of duty.

Listeners are encouraged to consider participating in this event in the future.  Next year’s event notice is promulgated on Remembrance Day.  

Check out the attached links to learn more:

https://operationpegasus.ca/

https://www.instagram.com/operation_pegasus_foundation/

Sound editing done by Todd Mason.

More about the Victoria City Police Union (VCPU):

-       Follow us on Instagram at https://www.instagram.com/true_blue_podcast/

-       Visit our website for information at https://truebluevic.ca/

-       Connect via the "Fan Mail" link attached to any episode.

Send us Fan Mail

VCPU President, Angela Van Eerd hosts this episode to introduce Tiffany Parton, the Director of Strategic Communications and Community Engagement for VicPD.

Tiffany grew up in Stayner, Ontario a small town of about 3000 people before moving out to the West Coast to work in fundraising for a number of charities.  She later moved to Vancouver Island in 2015 to work for the Victoria Hospitals Foundation.  She first connected with the Police when she got a fundraising job at “Cops for Cancer”.  A few years ago, she became the first Executive Director for the BC Association of Chiefs of Police.

As Director of Strategic Communications Tiffany and her team help to create a more connected and trusted organization in community and one that is more human focused.  A significant change to the past where minimal information about our people and what police officers deal with on a daily basis.  The VCPU believes the True Blue Podcast aligns with this new focus and is happy to see this effort being promoted.

Ange and Tiffany both believe the re-implementation of the Foot Patrol Squad in the downtown area is a great representation of being present in community.  The Public needs to see the police and the more they know can only help them understand and appreciate the police role.  VicPD Media will get the story out ahead of time versus having local media agencies drag it out after the fact.

Tiffany is proud of the work the Victoria Police Department is doing!

Sound editing done by Todd Mason.

More about the Victoria City Police Union (VCPU):

-       Follow us on Instagram at https://www.instagram.com/true_blue_podcast/

-       Visit our website for information at https://truebluevic.ca/

-       Connect via the "Fan Mail" link attached to any episode.

Send us Fan Mail

In this episode, Joel Durling is joined by Sergeant Vlad Filatov.  Vlad has been with VicPD since 2015 but started with the RCMP in 2013.  Vlad and his family immigrated from Romania when he was 9 years old, after spending some time in Montreal they moved West to Victoria where he graduated high school and completed a degree in Criminal Justice at the University of Victoria.  He began volunteering with VicPD’s Crime Watch Program on the recommendation of now retired Sgt. Bill Laughlin as a path to gain experience before applying to policing.

Before his recent promotion to Sergeant Vlad has worked in Patrol, Traffic, Integrated Tech Crimes, Special Victims Unit and Cyber Crimes.  He believes the police world has been lacking in use of technology to solve crime, although we’re getting better and the potential is so vast.

Vlad says he doesn’t have the magic keys to solving homelessness, but he wasn’t a big fan of the failed decriminalization of drugs and what that has resulted in.  His promotion will move him back to Patrol Division soon and some time working in the VicPD Jail.

Enjoy the episode.

Sound editing done by Todd Mason.

More about the Victoria City Police Union (VCPU):

-       Follow us on Instagram at https://www.instagram.com/true_blue_podcast/

-       Visit our website for information at https://truebluevic.ca/

-       Connect via the "Fan Mail" link attached to any episode.

Send us Fan Mail

Joel Durling hosts another really good episode of the True Blue Podcast.  In this episode, you get a chance to meet Sergeant Dyanne Parker who previously served with the Toronto Police Service (TPS).

Sergeant Parker completed 13 years with TPS before applying to VicPD a little over 2 years ago.  Dyanne shares some stories of what working in Toronto was like as a police officer - lots of gangsters to chase!  She has an identical twin sister, she is a mother of 2, enjoys playing Pickleball and loves living near the ocean.

VicPD's recruiting push in Ontario a few years ago has paid off nicely by finding Dyanne.  Her experiences in Toronto are a huge asset to VicPD and now that she's promoted to Sergeant, she will continue to pass along her vast experience to junior officers at VicPD.

Enjoy the episode.

Sound editing done by Todd Mason.

More about the Victoria City Police Union (VCPU):

-       Follow us on Instagram at https://www.instagram.com/true_blue_podcast/

-       Visit our website for information at https://truebluevic.ca/

-       Connect via the "Fan Mail" link attached to any episode.