The Editor,

Re: 鈥溾�楪row a pair,鈥� city councillor tells 性视界传媒 Police Union twitter account,鈥� the Now-Leader online.

I am a proud police officer and member of the 性视界传媒 Police Union鈥檚 board of directors.

Recently, 性视界传媒 City Councillor and former RCMP officer Jack Hundial told me to 鈥済row a pair,鈥� suggested I was not a 鈥渞eal cop,鈥� and challenged me to meet him 鈥渇ace 2 face.鈥� The choice of these specific words on Twitter was not coincidental. They are artifacts of a toxic police culture that fostered bullying and harassment.

READ: 鈥楪row a pair,鈥� city councillor tells 性视界传媒 Police Union twitter account

With paramilitary roots, policing historically operated under strict chains of command where status and success were conflated with strength and dominance. Some police organizations have become 鈥渙ld boys clubs鈥� where officers are either 鈥渋n鈥� or 鈥渙ut.鈥� The pressure to be part of the in-group breeds posturing, machoism and mistreatment.

These behaviours undermine teamwork, trust and psychological safety while promoting unspoken anxiety, as vulnerability is seen as weak. Comments like 鈥渞eal cop鈥� and 鈥済row a pair鈥� represent toxic police culture where bullying and harassment are commonplace and bravado, intimidation and competition are taken to the extreme.

In addition to being harmful to police officers, this toxic culture transcends into community interactions. The culture inside a police organization can affect how an individual officer communicates with the public, uses discretion, employs tactics and applies force.

Police officers feeling they must 鈥減rove themselves鈥� in front of their peers may be inclined to take a harder stance in police-public interactions. This may lead to increased use of force instances and public complaints. Clearly, strengthening relationships and delivering meaningful change in the community starts inside the police building.

The 性视界传媒 Police Union and our members are committed to building a healthy and progressive police organization, equipped to serve our community. Our officers will support each other through mentorship and peer-to-peer support programs. Diversity and cultural-competency components are embedded into our training. We are learning about trauma and its effects on us and our clients. Our use-of-force program prioritizes de-escalation over confrontation and teamwork over individual performance.

Once finalized, the collective agreement will place well-being and families first. Together, we are creating an inclusive, collaborative, and compassionate culture.

The expressions 鈥済row a pair鈥� and 鈥渞eal cop鈥� have no place in the 性视界传媒 Police Service or our community.

Ryan Buhrig, 性视界传媒 Police Union

edit@surreynowleader.com
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