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It also comes a day after it was revealed a group of female police officers had privately approached Coun. Diane Colley-Urquhart, appealing to her as a Calgary police commission member to clean up what they said is a culture of biased treatment and intimidation, including threats to careers for having a baby.

Johnson says she doesn’t doubt some officers have bad experiences, but they are the exception.

“I’m not downplaying what they went through, but it is isolated. It saddens me the universal perception is that the Calgary Police Service is a mess, when it isn’t.”

So far, 10 CPS members, including Johnson, have stepped forward to support Sgt. Jodi Gach, who took it upon herself to tell the other side of the story.

A number of those supporters, civilian and uniformed, have called Postmedia to express positive experiences with CPS, including homicide analyst Trish Pace, Det. Christina Witt, and Cst. Nicole Barrett.

Gach says she decided to go public out of frustration.

“We see the entire police service being painted with a brush that’s not consistent with our own experiences. I can only speak for myself, but I’ve had other people come to me in sheer frustration over it,” said Gach, a 13-year member.

“I think it’s a tough job and this environment is a tough environment because of what we deal with. We see horrific things, and that’s not to make people feel sorry for us, because this is what we signed up for.”

She pulls no punches when she suggests those complaining to Colley-Urquhart are too sensitive — “One hundred per cent,” she says — and feel entitled to special treatment.

“Everyone has their own line in the sand, and if you can’t meet the criteria that’s required as a police officer, which includes working shift work and includes dealing with hard things and being confident and knowing how to articulate your way through things, then this isn’t the job for you,” said Gach.

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