Former Calgary police HR director taking claims of toxic work environment to commission

After making allegations of bullying and a threatening and toxic work environment, a former Calgary Police Service (CPS) HR director is preparing to take her complaints to the police commission.

Angela Whitney served as HR director from 2019-21 and was brought in as part of the service’s HR reform following the resignation of former head Sheila Ball, who left just months into the job.

During Whitney’s tenure, she claims she was bullied and harassed because of her gender, and alleges she was required to “smooth over and hide” sexual harassment that happened to sworn and civilian women of the force

“The culture of fear is legitimate. But it’s not just a culture of fear — repercussions and reprisal are very real,” Whitney told CityNews. “As is the concept of this slow burn, which essentially [means] you will be burned for the rest of your career if you speak up, and I have seen it.”

Ball, a 25-year HR veteran in the oil and gas field, explained in a 2018 CBC report that senior CPS officers exhibited a “dictatorship” style leadership and were not open to change. She also says she had been humiliated and ostracized.

On top of her own experiences, Whitney says she saw firsthand how women in the force were treated.

“Discrediting females was absolutely common practice. And so one thing that I heard commonly was anytime that I met a female, some people would share with me, ‘Oh, they are a slut, they are … they slept with [whomever]’ or they only got their promotion because of whatever,” Whitney said.

Whitney claims women were subjected to games by male officers. One of them was called “Would you?” which she says meant, “Would you have sex with them?”

She also alleges she was the subject of another game where male officers would photograph women, and then fat shame or sexualize them.

“That was really fostered and engaged in from the leadership level,” Whitney said. “That was really pervasive at the sergeant level, and that was problematic.”

Whitney claims she witnessed the discrimination of people who identified as 2SLGBTQ+ among other things.

Calgary police respond to allegations

Calgary police said in a statement to CityNews it asked Whitney to stop making “disparaging comments.”

“As indicated in our letter to her, which she made public, she resigned from the CPS on the terms she proposed.  Her resignation was voluntary and no terms, including an NDA (Non-Disclosure Agreement), were forced on her. The terms she is bound by are standard to protect the confidentiality of sensitive human resources and personal information she was privy to as a member of the CPS’ leadership team,” the statement reads.

Calgary Police Commission chair Shawn Cornett also addressed her allegations during February’s police commission meeting.

“We have as a commission discussed this and we acknowledge that there are cultural issues at the service. There have been for a long time. And just to comment that we have been working on these and there’s lots more to do,” she said.

Calgary police Chief Mark Neufeld also addressed the claims at the last commission meeting.

“We’ve done a lot of work within the structure and capacity of our HR division. We’ve changed sort of how that looks in terms of the makeup. Way more civilianization. Now it looks much different than it did in the past to deal with the complex issues that go on there,” he said.

Neufeld claims the police force has come a long way since Whitney left the service in 2021.

“I would just say that when the individual worked with us from the end of 2019 to mid-2021, we were laying the foundation for significant HR reform, as well as managing our way through the COVID-19 pandemic,” he explained.

“Since that time, I think we’ve made quite a bit of positive process or progress with respect to the work that we’ve done.”

But Whitney doesn’t believe much has changed.

She cites the recent decisions where the chief would dispose of complaints like racial profiling as “non-serious” under the Police Act.

She also says other officers have similar issues.

“Experiencing harassment. They’re experiencing discrimination. And the processes and policies that are in place, they are not supportive.”

She thinks a mass exodus must happen at the executive level to address the systemic issues.

Other allegations of harassment, poor work environment

Kim Prodaniuk sued CPS, the Calgary Police Association, the police chief, and the city for allegations of sexual assault in 2019. She worked with the service from 2007 to 2017, leaving due to stress.

Her affidavit says she was subjected to inappropriate sexual conversations and questions by fellow officers while on duty, having to perform simulated sexual acts or being humiliated during training for the sex trade unit, and “being threatened or ostracized by fellow police officers for speaking out about her treatment,” among several allegations. This also included being prevented from seeking redress for her concerns or injuries and damage to her reputation.

However, in 2021, Judge Jim Eamon ruled that Prodaniuk’s lawsuit didn’t properly go before the court, and should have gone through labour arbitration.

Prodaniuk appealed the decision in 2023, but that was denied, with the court saying it was a labour dispute and should have gone to an arbitrator.

In addition, police officer Jennifer Magnus Ward spoke out about harassment and intimidation within the service at a police commission meeting at the beginning of 2017 and offered her resignation.

“I am not leaving the Calgary Police Service, it has left me,” she said at the time.

However, then police Chief Roger Chaffin didn’t accept her resignation and wanted her to reconsider. She officially stepped down in March that year.

Before the commission meeting where Ward delivered her resignation, former city councillor Diane Colley-Urquhart met secretly with 13 police officers in 2016 at her home, who all alleged harassment at CPS. She says they did this because they felt they had no other course of action.

Colley-Urquhart came out publically with the allegations, saying the CPS HR department should be shut down and officers should report to city HR.

When the police commission announced complaints against her for possibly breaking the code of conduct, including for speaking on behalf of the commission without express authority and using her position as a commissioner to advance personal interests, Colley-Urquhart resigned.

Those same police officers, along with Ward, filed complaints of harassment and bullying to Chaffin on March 3, 2017.