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Go behind the scenes with members from the Victoria City Police Union (VCPU). A long format podcast giving you an in depth glimpse into lives of police officers working in Esquimalt and Victoria. You won't find content like this anywhere else and you will hear regular interviews from a diverse group of VCPU members telling their stories.
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2026 WOUNDED WARRIOR RUN BC 8 DAYS 8 RUNNERS 800 KMS February 22 – March 1, 2026 From Port Hardy to Victoria, no small feat. Come cheer along the route or meet us at one of 28 stops to support our runners, Canadian Veterans, First Responders, and their families. Thanks to Capt(N) Kevin Whiteside (CFB Esquimalt) and Ret’d Deputy Chief Jason Laidman (VicPD) for taking time to chat about this year’s event. Kevin will be participating in his 2nd Wounded Warrior Run and this year Jason is on...
In this episode, VCPU President, Angela Van Eerd speaks with City of Victoria Mayor, Marianne Alto. Many different topics get covered in this interview including some interesting personal details about Her Worship and the educational path she experienced as a young person which is certainly very different than most people. You'll hear some views on Community Safety and Wellbeing, VicPD's lack of human resources, shelter and housing policies of Victoria, future budget support for...
To kick off Season 6 of the True Blue Podcast, we chat with Sgt. David Jorgensen, current Vice-President of the Victoria City Police Union (VCPU) and Sgt. (Ret’d) Ole Jorgensen, former long time VCPU executive member. We discussed the Regimental Mess Dinner that occurred in late 2025. Well over 100 serving and retired members participated in the event, which is intended to foster camaraderie, promote an appreciation for the history of VicPD and to celebrate those who have served i...
The True Blue Podcast wraps up Season 5 with Host Tom Stamatakis interviewing the VCPU President Angela Van Eerd. Hear them discuss the successes and challenges of 2025. Furthermore, they look into the future and discuss what Contract Bargaining and Crime Fighting will look like in 2026. Ang and Tom make it clear that the complaint process needs to be better, the lengthy delays are weighing on the membership and arguably it’s also hampering recruitment of new officers to the profe...
Great interview with two NPF (National Police Federation) representatives, Rob Farrer - VP Pacific Region and Chirs Voller - Director Pacific Region. https://npf-fpn.com/ The National Police Federation is the sole certified bargaining agent for regular Members and reservists of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police below the rank of Inspector. The NPF was certified to represent ~20,000 RCMP Members serving across Canada and internationally in the summer of 2019. We are the largest police labour r...
Dr. Lydia Vallieres - "Just F*ucking Do It" - A No Bullshit Survival Guide For First Responders - What The Academy Didn't Teach You. Hope you enjoy these episodes with Dr. Lydia as we talk about her book and experiences working with first responders on their mental well-being. Seven Parts of the Book 1. The Hidden Toll of the Job 2. Cognitive Survival 3. Nervous System & Emotional Regulation...
Dr. Lydia Vallieres - "Just F*ucking Do It" - A No Bullshit Survival Guide For First Responders - What The Academy Didn't Teach You. Hope you enjoy these episodes with Dr. Lydia as we talk about her book and experiences working with first responders on their mental well-being. Seven Parts of the Book 1. The Hidden Toll of the Job 2. Cognitive Survival 3. Nervous System & Emotional Regulation...
Sgt. Ron Kirkwood joined VicPD in 2009 after serving his country in the Royal Canadian Air Force. Ron's career includes time in Patrol, walking the Beat in the downtown core and a number of years on the Greater Victoria Emergency Response Team (GVERT). In this episode Ron talks about his journey through the Police Discipline Process after discharging his ARWEN which unfortunately resulted in a death, he explains the excessively long investigations he went through, the ups and dow...
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...
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