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Mounties turn to bolster their ranks
Within this province Const. Colleen Noble, a recruiting officer with the RCMP, says after the recruiting drive there will be 73 new officers out of this province on Canada's police.
In this province Const. Colleen Noble, a recruiting officer with the RCMP, says at the end of the recruiting drive there will be 73 new officers from this province on Canada's police force.
Countrywide, the force will hire 1,978 new officers in 2007,canada goose, with that number trending upward to two,304 hires in 2008, Noble says.
"We've been growing," she says having a laugh, pointing out it has been years because the force needed a lot of new recruits.
And while the Mounties usually have tried to recruit individuals who represent their communities, how they decide who to hire has certainly changed.
"We reflect society, like every corporation or organization does to some extent, we're no different," Noble says. "Up until 1974 we didn't accept women, after which in 1974 they decided to take female applications."
It's also true, Noble says, that as crime changes so does the force.
Noble uses the example of Internet crime particularly, that has been an ongoing focus of the force.
Gerald Leahy, a retired officer with more than 38 years around the force, says he had no idea what he was getting into as he walked into an RCMP recruitment office in New Brunswick like a 19yearold.
Leahy, who served in Newfoundland for around 23 years and settled here after marrying a great Bank girl, literally edited the book on the RCMP within this province.
"The Mounties: The very first 50 years in Newfoundland and Labrador," was published in 2004 and outlines the affiliation the police force has already established with this province.
"If you want to headquarters in Ottawa you cannot drop a hallway without clashing with somebody that comes from here or was stationed here," he says.
As he retired, Leahy was becoming assistant commissioner and director of personnel at RCMP headquarters. He was instrumental in implementing many of the new recruiting procedures,canada goose oslo, including fighting on behalf of the first member who requested to wear a turban during the beat.
He states the force has come a long way from the days when only men might be officers, when chest measurements and height requirements were the norm, and officers needed to seek permission using their commanding officer to get married.
"Members from the force were sort of, they were very independent," Leahy says from the beginning of his posting here. "They were in small detachments,parajumpers, they were given great experience, even prosecuting our very own cases in courts."
There were only 140 officers within the province at that time, he states, and communications were basically nonexistent.
"There was no such thing as overtime in those days, so people worked extended hours and lots of of us were single, too,www.newcastlesc.ca/?paged=3," he says. "At such a young age you were totally committed to your work."
With this particular week's announcement of the development of urbanstyle crimes in rural areas especially around the Northern Peninsula Justice Minister, Jerome Kennedy, says he'd like to see the province invest more within the province's police forces.
"We may need more police officers, but we may have to take a look at more initiatives, different or alternative approaches that are available," Kennedy says.
The province pays 70 per cent from the RCMP's costs within this province topping out in the 2007 budget at $58 million while the us government pays 30 per cent.
"I feel we're being very wellserved by our police forces," Kennedy says, adding that he can easily see some improvements later on.
The minister was at Happy ValleyGoose Bay this week to talk to residents concerning the justice system and corrections in Labrador. Before going to the Big Land, he explained it was important for the province's police forces to become properly trained and equipped.
"(It's) essential to maintaining a powerful democratic society . (it) allows them to result in the province a safer home as well as in my estimation at this time, what's so attractive about this province is the standard of living that people allow for families and individuals of races, so that is what we have to strive to maintain."
The force continues to be under fire recently as incidents of Tasering in other provinces and management of prisoners in Labrador and others came up in this news.
However, Noble says, recruiting really should not be hampered by the negative press.
"You never really know that you've a problem unless there is a problem, right? Change doesn't usually come proactively. It always comes more reactively at times because you don't realize there's an issue until you're first problem crops up."
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