Brian Knowler has been a police officer for 17 years, working in Patrol, Community Response, Incident Command and Emergency Management, Media Relations, and Legal Services. In 2004 he was the first one on the scene of a fatal collision in which the driver who died was a close friend of Brian's. Brian buried the impact of that night until 2012, when he hit bottom physically, emotionally, mentally, and spiritually and was finally diagnosed with PTSD from this experience.
He now speaks and writes extensively on topics around psychological health and trauma in the emergency response field, and has been consulted by media outlets across Canada. In March 2016, he published ‘On the Other Side of Broken – One Cop’s Battle With the Demons of PTSD.’ He is a member of the Police Advisory Group of Badge of Life Canada, an organization dedicated to furthering PTSD awareness and advocacy.
Before pursuing policing as a career, Brian went to law school and trained as a lawyer, but never practiced. In 2010, Brian finally decided to make his Call to the Bar, and now his lawyer’s robes, even though they’ve been worn only once, hang in his office, next to his body armour.
Brian’s wife Cathy, a cop’s daughter, is a teacher, and trauma counselor for families and spouses of first responders. She co-wrote a chapter of Brian’s book and is “one of the strongest women” he knows. They have two teenage sons, who still think it’s cool to have a dad who is a cop.