Blue Line, The Podcast

The professionalization of policing has been a hot topic recently and so for our latest episode of Blue Line, The Podcast, we tackle education in policing and its relationship to resilience as well lifelong learning for leaders in law enforcement. Dr. Lauren D. Eisler, the dean of the faculty of Human and Social Sciences at the Brantford Campus of Wilfrid Laurier University, joins us for this comp...

For this episode of Blue Line, The Podcast, we welcome Assistant Commissioner Serge Côté, the executive director of the Canadian Police College (CPC), and Supt. Doug Ross, director of the School of Police Sciences with CPC to the mic and to our virtual studio. We discuss the CPC’s modernization efforts as well as the bigger picture of the professionalization of policing. We also tap into the impac...

For the latest episode of Blue Line, The Podcast, we zoom in on police families and hear from Dilnaz Garda, the president of Toronto Beyond the Blue (TBTB). She shares more on the Heroes In Life Memorial and the importance in honouring those officers who have died because of the line of duty in a separate monument or wall. We also cover building mental resilience in today’s climate, when we are fa...

The wellness co-ordinator officer with the Greater Sudbury Police Service (GSPS), Const. James Jefferson, joins us for this episode of Blue Line, The Podcast. He’s a 12-year police service veteran and specializes in mental health, peer-to-peer support, member outreach, physical fitness and nutrition. After being involved in a die by police suicide scenario, Jefferson endured the fallout of PTSD. H...

The latest episode of Blue Line, The Podcast features Amy Ramsay, the past president of the International Association of Women Police and the founding president of the Ontario Women in Law Enforcement. She joins Blue Line editor Brieanna Charlebois for a conversation on the importance of education within the Canadian police service. Ramsay, an advocate for increased education standards among law e...

Stacey Moreau is the director of the Leadership Development Centre at the Canadian Police College. She joins Blue Line editor Brieanna Charlebois for a conversation about the future of leadership development in Canadian policing. The CPC recently conducted a needs analysis of current national training standards focused on modernizing the approach to leadership development. Moreau discusses the fin...

Peel Regional Police recently launched a new Intimate Partner Violence Unit to address the growing number of domestic violence incidents in the area. The service aims to break down silos by working closely with other community service providers. The unit is based on the Family Justice Centre model, where various agencies offer services for survivors of family violence in the same location. Officer...

NextGen 911 is coming. The CRTC has mandated that all Public Safety Access Points (PSAP), or what the average Canadian citizen thinks of as their 911 Call Centre, be fully transitioned to and using NG 911 technology by March 2024. This will enable the public to engage with PSAPs through calls, as well as text, photo, video, through their medical alert bracelets, vehicle OnStar, the list goes on. I...

This episode of Blue Line, The Podcast features Superintendent Treena MacSween of the Hamilton Police Service. Earlier this year, MacSween became the fourth woman and the first person of colour to achieve the rank of superintendent in Hamilton. She joins Blue Line editor Brittani Schroeder to discuss her path from recruit to superintendent, the challenges she has faced and still faces in her chose...

2021 marks the 45th anniversary of the Canadian Police College (CPC). The CPC provides advanced, specialized training and education to police and other organizations that have a mandate in law enforcement or who support public safety in Canada and internationally. The institution remains cutting-edge by introducing alternate training delivery methods and embracing innovation and technology. In thi...

Ret. Sgt. Lonny Blackett was the first Black police officer in the city of Brampton (Peel Regional Police Service). He spent over three decades serving his community as a constable and sergeant, and even after retirement he is still finding ways to give back to those in the law enforcement profession. In this episode of Blue Line, The Podcast, Ret. Sgt. Lonny Blackett joined Blue Line editor Britt...

Ret. Officer David Berez has over 30 years of experience working in Emergency Services, which includes 10 years of being a volunteer EMT and 20 years of being a police officer for the East Windsor Police department in New Jersey. After his retirement in January 2020, Berez made it his mission to help other police officers, in terms of their resiliency and their wellness. In this episode of Blue Li...

Have you ever wondered about the experiences of those who are married to members of law enforcement? How about those who are dispatching law enforcement to emergency calls? Today, we get to hear from Janet Wiszowaty, who started her journey with the Royal Canadian Mounted Police as a spouse to an active RCMP member, and then became a Telecommunications Operator and Emergency Police Dispatcher. In...

When someone asks you what your passion is, what do you say? For Ret. Digital Forensic Investigator Ryan Duquette, he would say “helping people”. From his time in the Peel Regional Police Service (PRP) to now working in Security and Privacy Risk Consulting at RSM, Duquette has found a way to serve that passion every day. In this episode of Blue Line, The Podcast, editor Brittani Schroeder spoke wi...

When Laurie White joined the RCMP in 1995, she had no idea that within the first three years of her career, her life would change forever and she would be off the job for almost a year. Nothing could stop her, though, and she was back with her RCMP team as soon as she could be. In this episode of Blue Line, The Podcast, editor Brittani Schroeder spoke with White about her journey with the RCMP, ho...

The annual Blue Line Best Dressed Police Vehicle contest showcases innovative, sustainable and effective designs for police vehicle graphics, equipment packages and installation, and shares those designs with the police community in Canada. These vehicles are often the most public face of policing and should reflect their communities as well as serve as a symbol of civic pride. In this episode of...

Do you know your rights under Canadian privacy protection laws? Blue Line recently sat down with Genetec to talk about this increasingly important topic. Genetec is a proudly Canadian Software company, working in 149 countries with over 22,500 clients globally. Celebrating their 25th year in business, their Security Center platform has a truly significant maturity level in Canada that has been ear...

The Calgary Police Service Recruiting and Selection Unit is proactively recruiting new applicants and experienced officers in many communities within the province and across Canada. In this episode of Blue Line, The Podcast, editor Brittani Schroeder was joined by Constable Tiffany de Leon of the Calgary Police Service, to talk about the “Calgary Advantage”, which includes the benefits of living a...

In this episode of Blue Line, The Podcast, editor Brittani Schroeder was joined by Cst. Rob Macgregor of the Calgary Police Service (CPS) to learn about his experiences so far within the CPS, what made him want to join the CPS and what life is like living in Calgary. The Calgary Police Service Recruiting and Selection Unit is proactively recruiting new applicants and experienced officers in many c...

Cst. Ryan Dlin spent over two decades at another police agency before deciding to join the Calgary Police Service. Since the day he sent in his application form, he has been welcomed with open arms to the department. In this episode of Blue Line, The Podcast, editor Brittani Schroeder spoke with Dlin about the positive view he had of CPS before joining the team and how the vibrant city of Calgary...

The Ontario Special Constable Association (OSCA) was created to be a medium through which special constables may share information, impart knowledge and build on the honour of their profession. In the old Police Services Act, special constables were mentioned only a handful of times. In the new Community Safety and Policing Act (CSPA), they’re featured much more prominently. In this episode of Blu...

Public safety personnel (PSP) face traumatic, challenging experiences on a day-to-day basis that can be extremely damaging to their mental health. Unfortunately, women—and specifically those who are PSP—are not getting the mental health support they need and often find it difficult to find a solution that works for their lifestyle and work environment. In this episode of Blue Line, The Podcast, ed...

When it comes to preventing crimes and investigating them, law enforcement teams face tough pressure from the public, media and politicians. They are expected to react quickly to, respond to and resolve crimes, despite limited budgets and resources. It comes down to giving officers access to solutions, technology game changers and data gathering strategies that empower them and support every aspec...

The policing of today looks vastly different from the policing of 30 to 40 years ago; however, recruitment, retention, training and serving the community are still of the utmost importance. In this episode of Blue Line, The Podcast, editor Brittani Schroeder was joined by Deputy Chief Raj Gill of the Calgary Police Service to talk about policing in Calgary, how policing is changing in Canada and w...

Mental health is a major topic in the first responders community, and having access to mental health supports and resources is of the utmost importance. In this episode of Blue Line, The Podcast, editor Brittani Schroeder sat down with Stephanie Samuels and Jim Alvarez of CopLine to talk about mental health, the stigma officers face, research being done into concussions and their effects, and why...