50 years of women in the RCMP: Corporal Sukhi Dhesi

Lower Mainland District, Integrated Homicide Investigation Team

Fri Mar 07 10:00:00 PST 2025

Working with the RCMP is nothing new for Corporal Sukhi Dhesi, who has been a police officer in British Columbia for over 32 years. Since beginning her career with Victoria Police Department (VicPD), she has worked in many areas of policing, eventually transferring to West Vancouver Police Department (WVPD) and working closely with the RCMP as a policing partner and through secondments with integrated units.

During her career as a municipal police officer, Cpl. Dhesi worked on bike, drug, major crime, and intelligence units, while also working with the RCMP during the 2010 Olympic Games in Vancouver. She also worked with the Combined Forces Special Enforcement Unit (CFSEU) twice and the Integrated Homicide Investigation Team (IHIT), which are made of up of both RCMP and municipal officers.

After retiring from her career as a municipal police officer, Cpl. Dhesi joined the RCMP in January of 2023 and remained with IHIT through the Experienced Police Officer (EPO) program. She currently works as part of the Investigative Support Unit and as a Media Relations Officer.

My work at IHIT requires me to draw on all of the experiences I’ve had throughout my career, said Cpl. Dhesi. These are complex and dynamic investigations that require constant learning and moving into this unit towards the latter part of my career has been extremely beneficial for me. I’m a better investigator because of the time I’ve spent in other units, police departments and positions and that’s something I’m proud to bring to the table at IHIT.

I’ve always wanted to be a homicide investigator. This is the hardest job I’ve ever done, speaking and working with families whose loved ones have passed away is very challenging. Our job is to investigate the circumstances surrounding their death and hopefully answer some of their questions. When we’re able to go into an interview, work through an investigation and get that ‘why?’, it can be very helpful to families and loved ones who are working towards healing and finding closure.

While every file at IHIT is challenging, for Cpl. Dhesi, the most challenging have been the investigations into the homicides of two on-duty members within a short period of time. Every single time IHIT is deployed, there has been tragedy and this has an impact on the investigators. When a fellow police officer is the victim of a homicide and has made the ultimate sacrifice in the line of duty, the weight of the investigation is felt throughout the organization and law enforcement community. In all investigations, no matter the circumstances, the priority at IHIT is to follow the evidence and to seek justice for those who have died unfairly.

Cpl. Dhesi was the 12th female officer when she joined VicPD and has seen first hand how policing has progressed for women, specifically for women of colour, throughout her career. While working with VicPD, she was involved in developing the first VicPD Diversity Unit that supported diversity training within the organization and in the community through facilitating relationship building and education with community groups and police officers.

Policing, in general and for women, has changed a lot over the years and there have been difficult moments and barriers for me and others. It hasn’t always been the way it is now, and I’m thankful for how far we’ve come. There was a time in my career where women faced many challenges, from course selection, promotions, joining or even being considered for speciality units. It’s a privilege to see women occupying positions in specialized units, senior ranks and on management teams within the organization. We should be so proud of how far we’ve come in 50 years and grateful for those that came before us and helped paved the way for women in the RCMP.

My advice to women considering a career in law enforcement and with the RCMP would be, don’t be so hard on yourself, there is so much to learn. Policing is an evolving career; the law is evolving and it’s important to understand that there are challenges in this line of work, no matter who you are and you have to be alive to that. There are many possible progressions available to RCMP officers, a wide variety of work available and something for anyone interested in this career path. Our jobs as veteran members are to make sure everyone on our teams is successful. I’m a strong supporter of mentorship and would encourage any person looking to join the RCMP to seek out those opportunities.

In addition to her investigative work at IHIT, Cpl. Dhesi is passionate about mentorship, teaching and continuous learning, having gone back to school and earned a Masters degree in Criminology. Whether it’s being part of frontline operations, conducting interviews as part of a homicide investigation or working with the families of victims, strong, smart and caring officers like her, have an impact on our communities.

When mentoring women aspiring to become police officers and more junior RCMP members, she always emphasises the importance of taking care of your physical and mental health while ensuring you’re maintaining work life balance.

As an organization, the RCMP provides us with a number of incredible supports for our mental and physical health. Our work is challenging and it takes a toll on us, creating those healthy habits, enjoying our lives away from policing and supporting that balance is vital to making us better police officers and better people.

Having worked with the RCMP in various capacities throughout her career and joining the organization as an EPO, for Cpl. Dhesi, being a Mountie is all about teamwork, from coast-to-coast-to-coast. As the national police service of Canada, being a part of the RCMP means being part of an internationally-recognized police force and there is a sense of pride to wear the Red Serge.

It is an honour to see where we, as women, are now within this organization. To have women, of many different backgrounds, occupying positions of various ranks is incredible. We’ve come so far to have a work environment as good as this one but there is still work to be done. I’m proud to be a Mountie and would recommend this career to any woman interested.

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Email: ediv_ihit_media@rcmp-grc.gc.ca

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