An RCMP epaulette is seen in Edmonton, Wednesday, Feb. 5, 2025. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Jason Franson

A British Columbia RCMP officer says his use of inappropriate and discriminatory language in group chats and on police data terminals wasn't meant to be malicious, and had "no connection" to the way he conducted himself professionally while on the job.

But Const. Philip Dick testified at a code-of-conduct hearing on Tuesday that he is ashamed of some of the messages, that included comments so angry he barely recognized them as his own.

Dick and fellow Coquitlam RCMP constables Ian Solven and Mersad Mesbah face possible dismissal over allegedly racist, sexist and other derogatory messages made in group chats between officers.

"I feel ashamed of myself," Dick said. "It's about four years to almost five years to think about it every single day and it was really difficult knowing that this is kind of what I'm known for now in Coquitlam. And, you know, I like to believe that the people that know me and have worked with me know that that's not the reality of who I am, but you know it's obviously how I'll be remembered in Coquitlam."

Dick said he used dark humour to cut the tension of the job but would cross a line into vulgarity that went "much too far."

The hearing is being held in Richmond, B.C., this week after it was delayed from March.

Dick faced direct examination from his lawyer Anita Atwal, who took the hearing through messages Dick sent to other officers on RCMP mobile data terminals and on private group chats through the Signal messaging application.

The messages included derogatory comments about a Mexican sexual assault victim and other racially insensitive and homophobic terms, language that Dick said was immature and "horrendous."

He said that when he reviewed the messages, he didn't believe it could've been him who sent them because they were "so angry."

"Then sure enough I would look back and confirm and it was my message and I don't even recognize being in that state of mind to make those types of comments so I'm just really extremely disappointed in myself," he said.

The hearing stems from a complaint from Const. Sam Sodhi, who alleged to his superiors in 2021 that Dick, Solven, Mesbah and others engaged in discreditable conduct by making racist, sexist and homophobic comments in a Signal group chat and on police data terminals.

Dick testified that the Signal group chat on his personal phone was private among fellow officers who wouldn't take offence.

"I thought it was just kind of a safe space to just kind say what you want, get things off your chest or to rant and rave about things," he said.

Dick said he took pride in doing the job professionally and efficiently, showing up for work each day and never calling in sick. He said that was an issue among other officers in the detachment he believed to be taking advantage of the RCMP's unlimited sick time.

He justified the use of the group chat as a method of venting to deal with "the stresses and the negativity of the job."

Dick said he was "super shocked" and angry to learn that it was Sodhi who made the complaint.

Dick denied many of Sodhi's allegations, but said he's ashamed of himself for dealing with stress and negative emotions in an immature and "stupid way."

Dick said he regretted using "ugly" language.

The hearing is scheduled through the end of this week, and is set to reconvene in late October to determine if the allegations have been established.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 16, 2025.

News from © The Canadian Press, 2025