Podcast by 2 Saskatoon police officers tackles trauma, addiction, burnout

It's a low-tech mounting for a high-stakes conversation.

Two casually-dressed men with microphones sit in a basement successful achromatic mesh chairs, a laptop machine connected a low table betwixt them. The country is filled with plants. Soft, earthy airy filters successful from the ground-level windows.

The men are Saskatoon constabulary officers Dylan Kemp and Jason Garland. On May 15, they began broadcasting The Quiet Fight, a podcast they measure successful promos arsenic "the amusement that talks honestly astir what the occupation does to your mind, your body, your individuality arsenic a man." 

"We're present for the ones who amusement up, who transportation the weight, and who often endure successful silence. No shrink talk, nary fluff. Just existent conversations astir burnout, trauma, addiction, leadership, and beingness beyond the badge."

They bash not place themselves connected the amusement arsenic Saskatoon constabulary officers, and usage lone their archetypal names.

The scope of the podcast has dilatory grown since that archetypal episode, which featured Garland and Kemp talking astir puerility trauma and the expectations of the job.

By Episode 6, it had gone from an audio-only podcast connected Spotify to video episodes disposable connected Youtube, TikTok and Instagram. They present merchantability branded T-shirts, hoodies and java mugs online.

Episode 6 featured a two-and-a-half hr speech with Sam Kosolofski, a Regina constabulary serviceman changeable by different officer while executing a hunt warrant connected April 26, 2024. It's the archetypal clip Kosolofski spoke publically astir the shooting and, to date, the occurrence has been viewed 1,800 times.

The Saskatoon Police Service does not privation to speech astir the podcast, oregon Kemp and Garland. It refused to reply questions connected its societal media policy, whether it approved the podcast oregon adjacent whether Kemp and Garland are progressive members.

Kemp and Garland person not responded to requests for remark connected their podcast.

The Saskatoon Police Association, the national representing much than 600 members, is not arsenic reticent.

"Yes, they are portion of the association," national president Chris Rhodes said.

Rhodes is alert of the podcast.

"From our perspective, it's important," helium said.

"If radical are suffering, we can't stifle their voice. We person to springiness them a accidental to speak, to accidental they request help, to speech astir their experiences and hopefully get better."

'Shots fired, officers down'

The occurrence with Kosolofski is the archetypal 1 wherever Kemp and Garland talk with idiosyncratic identified arsenic a constabulary officer. Previous guests had spoken astir addiction and trauma, but they were not archetypal responders.

The Regina Police Service investigated Kosolofski's shooting, but until CBC asked astir the podcast interview, it had ne'er released the findings of its interior investigation.

"The Regina Police Service Major Crimes Unit conducted a thorough probe of the incident. Following that, the RPS Use of Force Review Board conducted a thorough reappraisal of the incidental based connected that investigation. The Serious Incident Response Team (SIRT), an independent, civilian-led organization, monitored the investigation," spokesperson Lindsey Hoemsen wrote successful an email.

"The decision pursuing thorough probe was that it was an accidental discharge. Tactics and grooming were assessed and changes were made to trim the chances, and hopefully destruct the chances, of thing similar this happening again. This was not a concern wherever discipline/punishment was deemed appropriate."

In the podcast, Kosolofski describes however helium was portion of a squad executing a high-risk warrant that Friday successful April. The thoroughfare pack portion and the tactical enactment portion were going into a location connected Retallack Street.

"I was the archetypal relation going through the doorway that night. Basically the doorway went in, and I ended up level connected back."

Kosolofski didn't realize he'd been changeable until helium tried to basal and felt a lukewarm liquid moving down his leg.

"For immoderate reason, I couldn't get up and a mates seconds spell by and I heard idiosyncratic other benignant of yell, 'shots fired, shots fired, serviceman down,'" helium said.

"That was erstwhile I realized, OK, like, I got hit. But I'm not feeling anything."

Kosolofski speaks frankly successful the podcast astir his contiguous fears of dying, however he wondered whether helium should permission a voicemail connection for his woman and kids successful lawsuit helium didn't marque it done surgery, however helium astir mislaid his leg, and his agelong roadworthy to recovery.

He besides talks astir wherefore helium is sharing the communicative with different constabulary connected a podcast.

"Hopefully [this] can resonate and assistance immoderate different people, arsenic a batch of the worldly that you guys person already been doing sort of resonated with me," helium said.

'The idiosyncratic wrong the uniform'

Rhodes is not amazed astatine the increasing popularity of the podcast, particularly the Kosolofski episode.

"After each is said and done, the idiosyncratic wrong the azygous is quality and they're going done that experience, whether it's acute oregon whether it's chronic oregon a magnitude of clip oregon it's conscionable a abrupt event," helium said.

"Stress is stress, and radical tin subordinate to that origin that idiosyncratic shows up successful a uniform, whether they're a firefighter oregon a constabulary serviceman oregon an EMT oregon a paramedic oregon a caregiver oregon health-care professional, there's a quality being successful that azygous and they're going done that experience."

It's the humanizing of the radical successful azygous that gives the podcast its worth and power, helium said.

Rhodes said the national is alert that the SPS has a argumentation connected societal media. The question is whether the podcast is deemed an on-duty oregon off-duty event.

"There is argumentation astir societal media and there's argumentation astir however you correspond yourself successful societal media and that's understood for each serviceman that works there," helium said.

"But that doesn't bounds you successful your idiosyncratic voice. So it would person to beryllium looked at, I guess, connected a case-by-case ground however we would respond to that."