Durham police officers with PTSD describe isolation, allege privacy breaches by the service

[shockedcanadian]

More vicious policing in Canada, destroying their own.

Now imagine what they do to our citizens, to the courts?

We are not like you America, wake up. From the RCMP on down...

They would rather have someone with PTSD go postal or murder a suspect? Maybe an undercover plant something on a perp?

Canada is creepy. Our apparatuses operate more closely to the Chinese system than they do Americas.

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/toronto/durham-police-officers-ptsd-allege-isolation-privacy-breaches-9.7042355

Several Durham police officers diagnosed with post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) say they believe the service isolated them from the day they went on mental health leave and has not provided them any meaningful support.

They say there’s a workplace culture where confidential medical information is mismanaged and senior management imply there are members who lie about having mental health injuries. Officers who return are nicknamed “broken toys” and their careers are never the same, several said.

Chief Peter Moreira said the service prioritizes mental health support. He says he manages serious staffing pressures caused by the number of members on leave without stigmatizing them.

But all six officers CBC News spoke with said DRPS hasn’t reached out to them in a supportive way.

“Why are we left on an island to rot and feel like all this work we’ve done over the years was pointless?” said Joseph, which is a pseudonym.


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Staffing prioritized over members’ well-being​

Beyond privacy concerns, officers described a culture within the DRPS that made it difficult for them to decide to go on leave in the first place.

Some of the six officers CBC News spoke with say they believe internal stigma has worsened since Moreira became chief.

CBC News is using pseudonyms to protect all the officers' identities as they fear retaliation for speaking with the media.

Moreira said he has never used the phrase “broken toys” and hasn’t heard it within the service since he was appointed in March 2023.

“Nor would I tolerate it if I did,” the chief said in a one-on-one interview.

Moreira said he is disappointed to hear what officers told CBC News, and he wants to learn more about these officers’ experiences.

“I'm willing to learn. I'm willing to listen,” he said.

Private medical info shared, officers allege​

The most damning allegation involves how the service handles officers' private medical information.

Four officers told CBC News that members’ confidential information is shared within the workplace with people who should not have access to that information.

In one example, CBC News viewed an internal document that shows one officer’s PTSD diagnosis was known by at least two members of the service who did not have an obvious reason to know his diagnosis — just a day after he filed his WSIB application.

During platoon meetings, two officers said senior officers implied members shouldn’t be going on leave because it’s causing staffing shortages.

“It wasn’t said in a tone where they were compassionate or sympathetic,” said Kevin. “It was like, ‘no, they’re full of shit.’”

Moreira said there is an “undeniable” staffing pressure linked to the number of members who are off. He said the service has added almost 300 officers over the past three years to deal with this issue.

“I recognize that we have a portion of our workforce that isn’t here because they’re trying to get better, and I respect that,” he said.

“I haven’t stigmatized people ... I’ve actually dedicated more people to our frontline than ever before.”