Bohrn to be cops: Twin officers have been keeping Medicine Hat safe since childhood

“They were way too big for our heads at that age because we were like five years old so we had safety pins in the back of the hat to hold them on to our heads and we’d ride around on bikes in the park just patrolling and catching robbers,” recalls Brent.

They looked the part, were having fun and keeping their East Glen neighbourhood safe

“Our bikes would be our police cars, we’d have our hats on and usually some sort of like a cap gun or whatever strapped to our sides,” Brent says. “And our other friends would volunteer to be robbers and we’d chase them around and catch them and then bring them back to the backyard and to our little jail.”

The Bohrns were always on the right side of the law, even when it was just the two of them playing.

“We’d just go and catch imaginary bad guys and bring them back,” Brent says.

Brian says their parents like to remind them often about the time they stopped traffic on Ross Glen Drive with their hats and a stop sign art project.

“Brent and I apparently rushed home that day after school grabbed our police hats and these stop signs and went out to the street, Ross Glen Drive, a busy street at rush hour and began stopping cars,” Brian says.

He says they were acting as safety patrollers, just like they’d seen at school.

“Mom was inside and she didn’t know what we were doing and she looked out the front picture window of the house and saw traffic backed up and was a little bit worried as to what was going on,” Brian says. “When she peeked out the window she saw Brent and I on either side of the street with our stop signs stopping traffic and then letting a few cars go and then stopping them again.”

In their teens when a career in policing became more of a real possibility, the pair went through the four-year police and security program at Medicine Hat College.

They were separated soon after, when Brent was hired by the Medicine Hat Police Service but Brian wasn’t.

He was heartbroken at the news, but four months later was hired by MHPS. There were both excited to work with each other

“I was proud and excited and so overwhelmed with joy to be able to work with my brother and be able to share our careers in our hometown doing the thing that we dreamt of doing as little kids,” says Brian.

The extra wait made for a special moment.

“Being able to go to his grad up in Edmonton because that’s where he did his recruit training and being able to give him his certificate was pretty awesome,” says Brent.

Years later it’s a source of good-natured ribbing between them.

“He’s six minutes older than me so he’d held that over my head for 20 years or whatever so when I got hired four months before him I just keep rubbing into him that I can retire four months before him so that usually keeps him pretty quiet,” Brent says.

Brian knows it’s all in good fun and says any sibling rivalry at work benefits them both and in turn the police service and the community.

“We’re not looking to outdo the other one we’re pushing each other to make sure that we are successful in our careers and doing what we want to do and achieving our goals.”

The similar interests don’t end when they’re off shift.

“We have very similar personalities, same interests. So we do biking together, camping, hanging out, our families are very close,” says Brian. “So not very often on days off if it’s a weekend or something will you find one of us without the other one close behind.”

Or even side-by-side, like they’ve been their entire lives.

by Chris Brown

Bohrn to be cops: Twin officers have been keeping Medicine Hat safe since childhood

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