Whistleblower testifies at RCMP conduct probe into alleged racist group chat

WARNING: This story contains offensive language.

A whistleblower who sparked an internal probe into the conduct of three Coquitlam RCMP officers says he witnessed blatant racist and sexist behaviour and was bullied and harassed during his time as a general duty officer.

Const. Sam Sodhi testified at a code of conduct hearing alleging officers Philip Dick, Ian Solven and Mersad Mesbah fostered a toxic workplace, participated in racist and sexist group chats, and bullied him.

Sodhi was assigned to the Coquitlam RCMP in 2019, joining the D Watch group of officers. He said his motivation to become a police officer was to support at-risk youth in urban areas, which was documented in a letter of intent that he had written before joining the detachment.

On his second day with the Coquitlam RCMP, he alleged Dick — his trainer at the time — asked him, "What kind of brown guy are you? Are you a Surrey brown guy, or a white-washed brown guy?"

Sodhi said he then referenced his intent letter: "He brought that up and said he read the entire letter to the watch at the [general duty] pit. They laughed at me. They called me a bitch. They said I was a whiny brown guy. He told me that."

Sodhi alleged Dick told him he had to be "one of the boys" and "make fun of yourself" to fit in.

Alleged racist remarks and behaviour

Sodhi said during his time riding with Dick, he witnessed him make racist remarks directed at different ethnic groups. He alleges the officer would make jokes about wanting to Taser Black people.

Sometime between February and March 2021, Sodhi said the detachment received a domestic violence call from a woman who said she had a bloody lip.

He claimed Dick then joked to officers that the "stupid bitch should have worn a mouth guard." Sodhi alleged Mesbah made a similar comment.

Bullying and group chats

According to a search warrant related to the probe, Sodhi claimed there were two chat groups for members of the Coquitlam detachment assigned to Port Coquitlam — one for all members of the watch and a second private group chat that began on WhatsApp but then moved to Signal. He said he was told once he was "worthy" of the private chat group, "we'll add you to it."

The officer claimed he was admitted to the private chat group in March 2021 but left after a few days because of the "constant negativity." He said he was then accused of "not being a team member" and encouraged to return.

During his testimony, Sodhi said Solven made derogatory comments in group chats and on police chat logs related to his intelligence.

He said he was also belittled by Solven on radio communications during a police response to a vehicle crash on Coast Meridian Highway in the fall of 2019.

Sodhi radioed Solven, asking him to stop a car that was passing through the crash zone.

"Over the air, he says, 'Don't f--king tell me what to do,'" recalled Sodhi. "Everyone can hear. This man made my life a living hell."

Sodhi said he made attempts to de-escalate growing tension between himself and Solven. He said by 2021, he felt ostracized at the detachment and would get little support both in the field and for his administrative duties, which was taking a negative toll on his performance.

According to the search warrant, Sodhi complained to his superiors in May 2021, and a chief superintendent mandated an investigation into five Mounties.

The probe initially focused on text communications between the RCMP's own laptops — known as mobile data terminals. Investigators reviewed 600,000 messages posted to the RCMP's internal mobile data chat logs. claiming to find evidence of "frequently offensive" language usage by the three officers facing termination of "homophobic and racist slurs."

Examples cited from the RCMP computers include statements like, "Why do brown guys have unusually high-pitched voices. "As an idiot woman would say, ... 'toxic," and, "I just racially profile-pulled over a car."

The probe also reviewed messages from WhatsApp and Signal groups, 

Sodhi is expected to be cross-examined by lawyers representing the defendants on Tuesday.