RCMP officers who shared racist, misogynist, homophobic slurs about colleagues and crime victims are upset they were called ‘the three amigos’
Hearing delayed Monday to address discovery of email from conduct board member that referred to the men as 'friends' in Spanish
Three RCMP officers who could be fired over their racist, misogynist and homophobic messages about colleagues, victims of crime and the general public don’t think they should be disciplined because someone on the panel deciding their fate referred to them as “the three amigos.”
You can’t make this up.
Coquitlam RCMP constables Philip Dick, Ian Solven and Mersad Mesbah are accused of discreditable conduct for sharing 'atrocious' comments as part of a private Signal chat group of officers.
What did they share on their private cellphones about public safety matters that showed up on police computers? A few examples:
• bragging about Tasering unarmed black people;
• using the slur “goldfish” to talk about Asians and stereotyping them as bad drivers;
• refusing to help a fellow officer because he is gay;
• calling a fellow officer a “turban twister”; and
• mocking a female rookie officer’s weight “insinuating that the shape of her vagina was visible through her clothing.”
They also commented on First Nations people saying they refused to go to callls on reserves.
“We’re not going there because we’re not going to help those people,” one said in statements shared with Canadian Press (CP).
A few other statements found on RCMP computers, included:
• “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.”
There was much more.
A conduct board hearing began Monday in Surrey at which time the lawyer brought up the "three amigos" email. The hearing is scheduled to resume Wednesday (Feb. 19, 2025) when both sides will make arguments regarding whether the panel should be recused.
’Three friends’ in another language is a slur only if you're racist
Despite all of the above, the objectively horrific things Dick/Solven/Mesbah shared while conducting public safety for the RCMP, they got their knickers in twists when their lawyer obtained an email sent by a member of the conduct board that referred to them as the “three amigos.”
Lawyer Wes Dutcher-Wells said Monday they wanted the three panel members replaced because the Spanish term for friends was used in a “disparaging” way. A lawyer for the RCMP conduct authority pointed out that the men themselves used the term “amigos” in their communications over RCMP mobile data terminals.
The RCMP want the three officers fired, men who could not possibly be capable of protecting public safety in a professional manner given their attitudes about other human beings.
They argue their Charter rights were violated with the search of private phones, and private messages should not warrant dismissal. A lawyer with the BC Civil Liberties Association, Aislin Jackson, told CP that police should not expect privacy if they use private chat groups.
“It seems to me like none of us can reasonably expect that our communications to any police officer will be private from the police, including the police themselves,” she said.
An obvious potential problem is if individual officers or even police departments could be using personal phones and encrypted messaging to skirt freedom-of-information or defence disclosure obligations.
Jackson said it is improper for officers in chat groups to conduct “the business of the public” in private, adding that it was “naive” to expect privacy for remarks revealing misconduct.
-30-
Paul J. Henderson
pauljhenderson@gmail.com
facebook.com/PaulJHendersonJournalist
instagram.com/wordsarehard_pjh
x.com/PeeJayAitch
wordsarehard-pjh.bsky.social