Sgt. Julien Ponsioen: Pride and Policing

Sergeant Julien Ponsioen began his policing career with the Metro Vancouver Transit Police in 2014 after a 21 year career as a Paramedic and Supervisor and was the first openly gay male police officer hired by his department and the only openly gay male in his police academy class.  

Moving from patrol to Neighbourhood Policing in Downtown Vancouver, he began to connect with his community both in person and on social media to show that policing was for everyone and emphasize to members of the 2SLGBTQ community that they had an ally on the transit system. 

 While initially reluctant, he embraced his social media role and launched “Coffee with a Cop”, a very successful series of one minute safety tips and question and answer sessions that expanded across other platforms and developed a following that spans the globe. 

He has been a very active and successful volunteer recruiter and is now the non-commissioned officer in charge of Operational Planning.

On this episode, Julien shares his coming out story, the bridge he's building between the 2SLGBTQ community and police and offers his perspective, as a former paramedic and police officer, on BC's opioid crisis.

You can connect with and follow Julien on X (formerly Twitter), Instagram and LinkedIn.  

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