Police knew of bullying in 2009

Second report emerges showing earlier warning of toxic culture

Four years before an internal report cautioned top police officials about a toxic culture inside the Calgary Police Service, another audit had warned the force about systemic issues within its ranks, including bullying and retaliation.

This week, an internal review from 2013 emerged, revealing allegations of sexual harassment, intimidation and even sexual assault, spurring Chief Roger Chaffin to urge officers to come forward with concerns.

But an earlier report on workplace culture, provided to Postmedia, had already identified a “pervasive theme” of bullying in 2009 — and urged CPS to take action.

“The fact that there is perceived apathy and inaction from management suggests that it is important that the CPS acts on recommendations in this report — if they don’t, this will just reinforce this feeling/ experience,” the report reads.

Chaffin wasn’t aware of the 2009 report, according to Calgary police.

The audit, which would have been ordered by then-chief Rick Hanson, resulted in a workplace program called Respect Matters, intended to “foster and maintain a culture of respect at the Calgary Police Service.”

Chaffin said Tuesday that officers need to be able to speak out without fear of retaliation, and told officers they can bring their concerns directly to him.

But one former officer said a fear of retaliation from colleagues and a perception that long-standing concerns haven’t been addressed have made some current officers reluctant to come forward with their concerns.

“The trust is broken,” said Marlene Hope.

“As much as (Chaffin) would like to be the point person, they’ve lost the trust from the people to do so.”

Hope’s comments came the same day that Coun. Diane ColleyUrquhart called for the Calgary police human resources department to be moved under the auspices of city hall.

She also proposed a reconciliation process for the women who have raised concerns, and suggested an independent report about the CPS workplace should be commissioned by the City of Calgary.

The chief has been in the hot seat since it emerged Monday that a 2013 internal review of the CPS detailed “a culture of intimidation and retaliation” in which men and women often feel punished when they bring issues forward. The review was ordered by Hanson and consisted of interviews conducted by an independent auditor with 65 CPS employees in 2012 and 2013. The results weren’t made public until recently.

The Calgary Police Association, the union representing officers, has said the allegations raised in the report do not represent a widespread issue within the force.

But Hope and other officers called the concerns a “systemic issue.”

“It’s clear that this culture exists,” she said, noting that both women and men have expressed concerns about the issues.

The 2009 report on respect in the CPS workplace called for antibullying training for all employees. The research conducted by Graybridge Malkam involving 75 police and civilian participants also drew “many comments” citing a fear of retaliation and inaction, including one respondent who said: “I have the feeling that if I filed a grievance my life would be hell.”

Those concerns were echoed by officers who spoke to Postmedia on the condition of anonymity.

One woman said members are concerned that if they approach the chief, they could face retaliation from co-workers or be “labelled” as people who skip the chain of command.

“So when he says that you can email him, you can call him, that’s the fear that officers have is talking to him, because ... they’re going to be labelled,” she said.

Hope said there needs to be someone at an arms-length position to the police force to look into and address workplace concerns.

“I think you need somebody from the outside to provide the proper guidance and support and education to move it forward,” she said.

Another officer said the force shouldn’t need the details of specific complaints to address the issues that were raised in the 2013 workplace review.

“My personal opinion is they have to start with the culture of the organization, not with people complaining about the culture of the organization,” she said.

She noted the person currently tasked with investigating workplace complaints is employed by the service and reports to the chief.

“We should have an independent body investigating them, and we should also have ... an advisory board that is separate from the union, separate from the service, that we can go and speak to and get some advice,” she said.

Chaffin told media Tuesday following the police commission meeting that dealing with particular incidents of misconduct is “easy,” but that what is difficult is changing culture and changing an organization to “not have fear” about raising concerns.

The chief said that while the force has often in its history used its own officers as HR professionals, the service looked at new experts in the community to help with some of these issues.