Former officer doubts force’s efforts to fix toxic culture

A former police officer is again casting doubt on the sincerity of efforts by the Calgary Police Service to reform the service’s culture following allegations of bullying, harassment and abuse within the force.

At a meeting of the Calgary police commission on Tuesday, former police constable Jen Magnus said the force has done nothing since her public resignation in January to demonstrate it’s serious about making changes to its culture.

“I don’t feel that things have changed. And I don’t feel it’s a safe environment right now because they’re not acknowledging that bullying and harassment is an issue within the service,” said Magnus.

She said she received correspondence from CPS lawyers that suggested the service still doesn’t believe there’s a problem.

“If they believe it doesn’t exist, why the heck are we here?”

Magnus is one of more than a dozen current and former Calgary police employees who have submitted formal complaints to the service, some of whom were present at Tuesday’s meeting.

The meeting included a lengthy progress report from CPS on efforts to reform the force’s human resources structure and establish an independent, third-party advocate to hear complaints from police service members.

The independent advocate is just the first step in a seven-point plan to improve CPS’ workplace culture put forward by the police commission.

Commissioners were told the role and framework for the independent advocate will be presented in May.

Commission chair Brian Thiessen said that, despite what Magnus said, he feels the service has demonstrated that it’s taking workplace issues seriously.

Calgary police Chief Roger Chaffin was quick to denounce Magnus’ comments following the meeting.

“Remarks like that are unproductive. Our service, as you saw today, is exhausting every effort we can to respect the need to have a respectful workplace,” Chaffin said.