B.C. RCMP officer testifies of hope for ‘balanced’ view of actions versus words

A British Columbia RCMP officer facing possible dismissal over messages sent on a private group chat and on the force’s data terminals says he hopes his use of inappropriate language is balanced against his actions over years of policing.

Const. Mersad Mesbah is one of three officers stationed at the Coquitlam, B.C., detachment facing allegations of discreditable conduct at a hearing over their comments.

An RCMP conduct authority lawyer at the hearing in Richmond, B.C., asked Mesbah about “disparaging” comments he made about females — a complainant and a colleague — that the lawyer says showed “hatred” toward women.

Mesbah said Friday that he made jokes in bad taste and comments out of frustration and anger, but that they were not “representative” of how he has conducted investigations.

He said he went above and beyond on numerous files involving domestic violence, sexual assaults and child abuse, and he hopes his policing is taken into account in consideration of his case.

Mesbah said he didn’t speak English when he arrived in Canada from Iran, and wasn’t “alert to” the level of vulgarity conveyed by a four-letter term he used, but now that he is aware, he’ll “never use it again” in his life.

RCMP conduct authority lawyer John MacLaughlan said one message authored by Mesbah referred to a complainant as “garbage” after a domestic violence call where the alleged victim was unco-operative.

“I hope he does … kill u tonight,” the message read in part.

“That comment was made in severe amount of frustration because I was actually trying to help the person,” Mesbah said. “We were being impeded in being able to help and provide police assistance.”

Mesbah said he took on the most domestic violence files in Coquitlam, and relayed a story about a woman who courageously came forward to him about years of abuse she suffered and how she was able to eventually pursue charges.

“And at the end, she gave me the biggest, most sincere hug of my life,” Mesbah said.

“Well, with respect, sir, that’s a nice heartwarming story, but it didn’t stop you from joking about a woman being murdered by her domestic partner,” MacLaughlan said.

Mesbah said he shouldn’t have made that comment, but he was “enraged” that he wasn’t able to help and felt impeded and it wasn’t meant to be taken literally.

A former member of the detachment, who can’t be named under a publication ban, testified by video later on Friday, and said morale at the RCMP is “low in general,” but “very low” on the Coquitlam RCMP D-watch in the zone where the officers were assigned.

He said supervising officers were known to micromanage to the point of people calling in sick “constantly because they didn’t want to work around them.”

The former member testified that a superior officer was “anal retentive” and filled up a 200-page notebook every shift and told constables to lay charges in cases that they didn’t believe warranted them.

“So, it was just like a constant beat down every day of morale and people not wanting to come to work anymore,” he said.

The former officer testified that the group chat between members was a forum for jokes that were sometimes inappropriate and “obviously it was not a good idea.”

The hearing concluded Friday and will reconvene in late October for closing submissions and decisions on whether the allegations against the three officers have been established.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 19, 2025.

Darryl Greer, The Canadian Press