Bend Don't Break

This week, Chief Neil Dubord is joined by Jonny Morris, CEO of the British Columbia chapter of the Canadian Mental Health Association , to discuss the event that took place on January 23rd, 2023, when the Delta Police Department received a report of an individual who was outside the safety rail on the southbound side of the Alex Fraser Bridge. In this episode, Chief Dubord speaks with Jonny Morris...

This week, Chief Neil Dubord is joined by Grayson Hawkings and Joel Thirsk from the Delta Police Department.   In this episode, Chief Dubord speaks with Grayson and Joel about their intervention in a case that had an unexpected turn and how they handled a complex and uncertain incident in the Ferry Terminal, displaying a magnificent team effort.  Both Grayson and Joel share the impact the process...

This week, Chief Neil Dubord is joined by Todd Mason from the Victoria Police Department. In this episode, Chief Dubord speaks with Todd about two tragic incidents that changed his career and affected him deeply, impacting his physical and mental health profoundly.    Todd boldly shares the struggles he endured being diagnosed with PTSD, major depression and anxiety and how he regained control of...

This week Chief Neil Dubord is joined by Laurie White. Laurie graduated from the RCMP training academy, 'depot', in 1996 and was posted to Kitimat, B.C.   Less than three years into her career she was shot in the leg while executing a search warrant at the home of a sex offender. Laurie shares her incredible story of losing her leg, her physical and mental recovery and her heroic return to work as...

In this episode, Chief Neil Dubord speaks with retired LAPD Chief Psychologist Dr. Kevin Jablonski. Kevin discusses how, in 25 years with the LAPD, he observed policing distort and skew how police officers view their world - becoming increasingly negative.  Kevin also challenges police officers to explore their own world view and challenge it, noting that while black and white thinking might serve...

This week, Chief Neil Dubord is joined by  Steve Joordens , a Professor at the University of Toronto where he teaches psychology, and Sgt. Dave Haynes, a Police officer who has been working for the Toronto Police Services for 21 years.   In this episode, Chief Dubord speaks with Steve and Dave about how they put together a course for police officers to help face the stress and anxiety that come wi...

This week, Chief Neil Dubord is joined by  Nathan Kapler, who has his own podcast called Ten Thirty-Three ,  where he tells some of his experiences through extremely challenging situations as a Police Officer. Nathan shares in his show how he learned to handle his emotions, and also deal with his own unresolved trauma.   In this episode, Chief Dubord speaks with Nathan about how he grew up in a sm...

This week, Chief Neil Dubord is joined again by James Hardy who has been in policing for more than 4 decades, he was with the Royal Canadian Mounted Police then over to the  Calgary Police Service, and later developed a consulting career.   This episode is the second part of an amazing conversation with James. He shares how a large team of police officers investigated the murder of 4 RCMP officers...

This week, Chief Neil Dubord is joined by James Hardy who has been in policing for more than 4 decades, he was with the Royal Canadian Mounted Police then over to the  Calgary Police Service, and later developed a consulting career.   This episode is the first part of two, where James speaks about his 40 years of career in policing and how hard it was to retire. He also shares two major incidents...

This week, Chief Neil Dubord is joined by Giselle Chiu, a Delta Police employee who experienced stress and trauma build throughout her 9-1-1 call-taking career.   Giselle discusses her drive for a life of service, the toll answering 9-1-1 calls took on her wellbeing and a traumatic incident that occurred outside of work where her life saving efforts to save a baby were unsuccessful.   Giselle's st...

This month Chief Neil Dubord is joined by Constable Jenny LeQuesne from the Victoria Police Department (VicPD) who is sharing her incredible story.   In this episode, Chief Dubord and Jenny speak about how being injured on the job led to the end of her beloved 12 year career. Jenny talks about trying to return to work as a police officer on patrol, the realization that a brain injury would mean th...

This week, Chief Neil Dubord is joined by RCMP Cst. Shelby Murphy. In this episode, Shelby shares her story from her time in the RCMP's Sex Crimes section investigating child sexual assaults and child pornography. Shelby shares that these investigations deeply impacted her physically, mentally and emotionally, to the point where she ended up suffering from PTSD and lived in shame for years.   Shel...

This week, Chief Neil Dubord is joined by Aaron Courtney, a 19-year veteran of the Abbotsford Police Department.   In this episode, Chief Dubord speaks with Aaron about how his career and life were completely altered in 2019 after he was a victim of a serious on-duty pedestrian hit-and-run motor vehicle incident. He shares his personal story, his struggles with career loss, his major health change...

On this edition of  Bend Don't Break,  Chief Neil Dubord is joined by a 23-year member of the Calgary Police Service, Dave Sweet.   In this episode, Dave shares key lessons he has learned as a Homicide Detective, impactful moments in his career that have changed his perspective on policing, and the coping strategies he leverages to protect his mental health.

This month on the  Bend Don't Break  Podcast, Chief Neil Dubord is joined by not one, but three fantastic guests. S/Sgt. Mike Bloxham, Sergeant Dave Fouche, and Superintendent Dave Teboul are all experienced RCMP Crisis Negotiators here to talk about the critical incident that brought them all together.   In this podcast, Mike, Dave T., and Dave F. speak about a 9-month long international kidnappi...

This week, Chief Neil Dubord is joined by Mark Bouchard. Mark first joined the Delta Police Department in 2007 and in 2020, Mark left the Delta Police to join the RCMP. Currently, he is serving on RCMP's North District Emergency Response Team that he has been a part of since March 2021.   In this episode, Mark shares some of the life-changing experiences he has gone through throughout his career f...

In this episode of  Bend Don't Break,  Chief Neil Dubord is joined by Chris Bentley.   Chris and Chief Neil Dubord discuss the topic of vicarious trauma. You don't always have to be right on the front line to experience the side effects from a traumatic incident.   Chris shares his experience assisting with the wildfire effort in 2011 in Slave Lake, AB, and how it impacted his mental health in the...

The focus of today's episode is on creating positive situations out of the darkest moments. Joining Chief Neil Dubord today is Deepak Prasad, a Divisional Wellness Coordinator for the Royal Canadian Mounted Police.   April 18-19th, 2020 in Nova Scotia marked one of the darkest moments in the history of the province and the country. A gunman went on a rampage and took many innocent lives including...

Get ready for another fascinating, powerful, and insightful episode of  The Bend Don't Break  podcast! This week, Chief Neil Dubord is joined by Vancouver Fire Lieutenant Jenn Dawkins. Jenn has some incredible experience both in and out of her role as a firefighter and a powerful story of resilience that anybody can learn from.   Jenn's story is one that anyone could relate to. She speaks about th...

Welcome back to the Bend Don't Break podcast! Chief Neil Dubord is welcoming RCMP Sergeant Major Sebastien Lavoie to this episode.   Sgt. Major Lavoie's career highlights include the Canadian Air Carrier Protective Program and the Lower Mainland District Emergency Response Team.   In their conversation together, Sgt. Major Lavoie talks about his career journey, the lessons he has learned through d...

This episode is part two of the two-part series with Lt. Joshua Bitsko from the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department.   In the first part of the series, Josh recounts the day of the October 1st, 2017 Las Vegas shooting as one of the first responders on the scene. He took listeners moment-by-moment from when he first received the call up to finding the shooter deceased in his room.   In this ep...

Today is a special episode for the  Bend Don't Break  podcast. Chief Neil Dubord is joined by Lt. Joshua Bitsko from the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department, who recounts the day of the 2017 Las Vegas shooting at the Route 91 Harvest Music Festival. Lt. Bitsko takes listeners moment-by-moment from when he first received the call, to finding the shooter deceased in his room. Be sure to tune in...

*This episode contains graphic language.* In this episode, Cst. Mike Willford of the Abbotsford Police Department joins the podcast to share his personal story on compassion fatigue.   Mike and Chief Neil Dubord discuss Mike's experience of being the 'helper', but not seeking help for himself and how that led to physical symptoms he could not ignore.   His story is a unique but common one in the s...

In this episode, Chief Neil Dubord is excited to be joined by two guests who are both long-time Edmonton Police Service members, Colleen Mooney and Glen Klose. In this episode, Glen and Colleen discuss how Edmonton Police look after their members after traumatic events on the job, and how for the past 11 years, the department's Reintegration Program has been helping police officers get back to wor...