What Canadian Mounties Go Through At Boot Camp
Nunez in what year did we become the Royal Canadian, Mounted Police. 1920. Really, that's what you're gonna give me that's as loud as you can be 1920. My. Goodness heaven. Forbid the day you have to yell at someone stop. Police drop the knife because. They're coming at you with an edged weapon. There's no whispering, there's no room, for meek, and mild in, this, job. These. Cadets, are training, to become members of the Royal Canadian, Mounted Police. More. Commonly, known as the Mounties. But. Before, they dawn the iconic, scarlet, tunic known as the red Serge all cadets, have to graduate, from the RCMP. 26-week. Training, program. Which. Combines an intense tactical, training, with. Customs, and traditions. That. Are steeped, in Canadian, history. Every. Year, about 1,000. Cadets graduate. From the Academy before. Joining the 20,000. RCMP, officers, serving, across the country. On. A bitterly, cold week, in December, we. Spent five days at the academy. Where. We saw different troops at various, stages of the 26, week training program on. Day. One a new. Troop, is welcomed, by the Academy's, commanding, officer, everybody. Wants, you to be successful. We're. Incredibly happy that you're finally sitting in these seats as members of troop 29 and we, want you to be successful but, we're not gonna do it for you you have to do it for yourselves the application, process which includes a polygraph, test can take about eight months, everybody. Took. A year, out of your life to finally get here we. Sometimes see cadets go home after 24 hours it takes. Probably. A couple of weeks to. Get used to the routine so, give, it at least a couple of weeks work, hard have. Some fun and. Good luck are. We a kinder. Police, organization. That, is a comment, that we actually verbally. Say out loud now we're in the service industry, we're out there to serve the Canadian, public so if we create that type of environment, we're. Hopeful that the cadets will remember, that and when they are out in their various communities, that they will continue, to. Work with the communities as they were trained.
Training. Happens here, at RCMP. Academy, Depot division located. In Regina, Saskatchewan, about, 100, miles north, of the US border, it's. A region of Canada known as the Prairie where during our visit, to Regina sustained. Winds, combined. With the low temperature, made it consistently, feel, about negative, 25, degrees Fahrenheit. The. Starting, salary for a constable. In the RCMP. Is about, 53,000, dollars a year after, three years it increases, to about, 86,000. Applicants. Must be at least 19. Years old and willing, to relocate, anywhere. In Canada including, remote. Provinces. Like Yukon. And Nunavut. The. Royal Canadian, Mounted Police as, we know it today was, founded in 1920. The Canadian, Rockies, the legendary, Mounties, are the symbol of law and order in this vast domain, although they're called Mounties, the RCMP, isn't, a Mounted Police Force. And. Horses, are only used, for ceremonial, events. We're. Not what you see in the movies from Hollywood, people see the red jackets, pointy hats on black horses and they think that's what the RCMP, is but we're police officers first, and foremost and I think that's probably the biggest misconception. The. Reality, is policing, back, roads and small towns by yourself, we are a police, force that's the biggest message. And. It. All starts, here at. Depot. Where. Most of the training is focused on mastering, police procedure, practiced. In realistic, scenarios. Where. Cadets, play the roles of both the officer, and the, suspect, anything. That you do say to me can be used as evidence do you understand yeah I just want to learn I messed up I didn't mean to I'm not that type of person okay. Good, to know can I get a 1028. 1029. The pros on, a Saskatchewan, marker when ready. We're. Trying to prepare, them for the realities, of policing, you have anything on you that could hurt me or you, policing, isn't an easy profession, we. Make the, program such, that, they will be physically, and mentally prepared. But. They also have to have common sense they have to know their, powers of arrest they have to know the law, so. It's a real, combination. Of two things that need to happen all at once male. And female cadets, trained together at, depo and. Even. Faced each other in police, defensive, tactics, training or PDT. Obviously. In policing we don't choose our opponent we're not going to be always be, matched with a normal-size. Like you would see in a sport of boxing. Or, MMA. Most. Of our cadets. Come here without any, backgrounds, at all some of them have never been involved in a fight so, it's very difficult for them to understand, how to, deal, with a situation, like that. Cadets. Are faced with additional, disadvantages. Sometimes, they're only allowed to use one hand or, they're, only allowed to use leg, strikes. Another. Exercise, requires one, combatant, to spin around in circles before, the fight begins. An. Opponent out there in the street it could happen that you get hit in the head and that can create some kind of busyness a little bit of a concussion type of scenario. We want to make sure that they have this kind of understanding. Without putting them into a concussion to help you because we don't want them to be hurting. Themselves but. With punches, flying minor, injuries, do occur, sometimes. Some things like that happens we try to mitigate that as much as we can so it's almost a good thing that he can feel that so then if it happens in the field knows how to deal with it. In.
This Scenario. Cadets. Attempt to subdue and aggressive, assailant and. Apply handcuffs, but. It's not easy, to. Make the scenario, more challenging, cadets, are matched up with assailants, who are bigger and stronger than they are. Whose. Objective, is to try and grab the gun and baton, from the cadets duty belt. The. Reason that we do this is basically, to allow. The police, officer to reassess, the totality, of that situation, and. Now that jeopardy has raised for the police officer, they should be able to reassess that situation, and I was like communication. Is the big key here they want to communicate with their partner and. Then. Come up with a new plan based on their risk assessment which is always evolving. Nobody. Dies at depo this is the place to make mistakes because when police officers make mistakes, people get hurt. Some. Of the stuff they see and, will see is not nice and we need to help prepare, them for that physically, and mentally. Being. Exposed to pepper spray is a common, part of law enforcement training, and it's no different in the RCMP. We. Want them to get an appreciation for using. Pepper spray so they understand, essentially, that it's painful and so, they understand that it works it's effective, and that they can fight through it if they are exposed to OC spray themselves, they. Do 50. Jumping jacks so, we just want to get their heart rate up just to simulate as if they were in some sort of a physical altercation perhaps. They, then go into the actual chamber, where it's been contaminated with, pepper spray you've, already gone 17. Arrests, and then. They have to make an arrest on the subject, inside that chamber keeping. Their eyes open being aware of their surroundings and fighting, through that painful experience, but in depo cadets. Take it to another level. After. Being exposed, cadets, exit the facility and. Perform. An arrest in the freezing cold would you like to speak to a lawyer when we get back to the office they, probably barely noticed the cold when they're out there is after immediately. After the exposure it's only once that the effects have worn off that, they realized it's actually cold outside, they. Actually will help somewhat, with numbing that pain of the pepper, spray once, they get back into a warmer environment, just. Adjust, volume is everybody able to hear me over there like what can you hear me okay you guys okay. Okay, the things that I say are so important. Cadets. Fire between, 800, and 900 rounds. During their 65, hours of training on the firing range. Probably. 15-20, percent of the, cadets that show up have some sort of firearms, experience, whether that's pistol shotgun rifle or hunting we're. Able to take someone with absolutely no, pistol or firearms experience, and make, them quite good shooters and successful, through the program. So, week two they're actually issued their service pistol Smith & Wesson 59 46, that is their pistol and it. Will follow them through their career, until they so retire or move on to something else. Firearms. Is a very important skill set to have and if the day ever comes that, you actually need to rely on your pistol to protect, a human life it's going to be a situation where, we hope that you're proficient and you're prepared for that day when it does come. Interact. With a video in, which role players create a scenario, that tests judgment. And. How to de-escalate, a, threatening, situation. The. Judgment simulation, room is also, equipped with what's known as a shoot, back cannon, which. Fires projectiles at. Cadets. We. Can basically give, him a little shot with the shoot back Adam and they, will remind them to go use, cover so it only needs once or twice and then they quickly get behind covered. Every. Cadet is required to pass the pair, test. Hare. Stands, for physical ability. Requirement. Evaluation. It's. Used to determine, a cadets physical, ability, for duty.
The. Pair, is the current. Job standard test that we use it's. The measure of success for, fitness and physical ability when cadets graduate. From depo so if a cadet is unsuccessful at pair then, they will not graduate from our program. The. Cadets will run six laps of an obstacle course that includes, running over a set of stairs twice in each lab as well as jumping, over some lower hurdles, and going, over a 3-foot barrier, laying on the ground and getting up so they go through that circuit six times and then they move into what we call the push-pull, station that replicates, that, altercation. And they, need to push and maneuver a weight six times the way 270 pounds. The. Standard. For what we call it pass is four minutes and 45 seconds in policing, the physical, demands are unpredictable, and it's difficult to do your job well or safely, if you are unfit. Cadets. Are also timed, in Scenario specific. Training, like this exercise. Where. The objective is, to load up a truck bed with various, life-saving. Supplies each. Item, weighs about 50, pounds and the goal is to safely load the truck in less than 2 minutes. Training. Moves, outside. When. Cadets work with a dog handler. This. Is Bailey she, was my partner is a police dog I spent seven years on road with her as a police dog and we were partners. She. Goes, on what are called uniform, runs supposed to simulate running, with a dog handler pursuing. A suspect or, looking for a lost person. We. End up going over a lot of fences for chasing bad guys it's, just, the nature, of how our work is. To. Try and get a dog over a fence that our main concerns the safety of the dog we don't want the dog getting hurt chasing, somebody and so, there's certain. Ways to get the dogs over the fancy. They. Utilize her harness so what we usually do is get one person at the top of the fence and on top of the fence and then, I hand the dog up to them. And. Their job is to make sure she does come back over the fence or jump down the other side to hurt herself we're. Lucky with Bailey Bailey's, very friendly and very easy to work around. The. Cadets uses a bit of a learning tool to show them how to be around the dog and what, the dog looks like when it's actually working. Cadets. Have to pass a rigorous, inspection. Of their barracks. Known. In the RCMP. As pits cadets. Lay out all components. Of their duty belt on their beds and stand, by while an officer inspects. All of their clothing and personal belongings. Cows. Sacrifice. Their life for your development what you've done to it. How. They do presented its advocates, is an extension of themselves, and. It. Does translate to other areas across the cadet training program, it. Is minus, 25. Right now and you're out here in a forge cap you're out here not prepared, for duty, this, entire troop will be a learning assistants, tomorrow morning at 7:30, wear your fur cap and carry your head here so you've been wearing for class what, sets the RCMP.
Apart, Is its uncompromising. Attention. To detail. Which. Is on full display in, the drill hall where. Cadets spend hours, practicing. Marching, maneuvers. And customs. It's. An extremely valuable component. Of training here because it teaches cadets that sense of discipline self. Control and composure. It's. About conditioning. The mind simple, commands, you respond, you see the threat you respond, even though it looks very ceremonial. In nature it's, all connected back to, doing policing, the bottom of the flap all the way down here lower it the bottom here that's where it should be why are those things important, in our uniform. Public, perception of us. What. Happens if we have poor public perception, lack of faith it's. Not about buttons and zippers and, it's not about marching everything. Has a connection, back to policing attention, to detail in your uniform, translates. To looking, for what's missing looking, for what might be evidence when, you get out into the field. Drill. Practice culminates. In a ceremony, known as the sergeant, majors parade. And. Every. Week there's, a special, guest in attendance, a, 28. Year old man with special needs named, Matthew. He. Has come to the RCMP, deppoh parade on Tuesdays, for the past six years and it's. His like, ultimate, thing this is what he looks most forward to is being, able to come here and have. This relationship, that he's developed with the drill unit. It's. Just tremendous, like they've just sort of taken him, under their wing and he has his own uniform, you know they made him an honorary. Cadet. Although. The Mounties are known for their iconic, scarlet, tunic, this. Is the uniform you'll, actually see, a modern, Mountie, wearing, on duty, but. The red Serge remains, a defining, characteristic, of the RCMP. Used, as the formal attire for, ceremonial, events. The, uniform, comes together here, we're, a team of more than 20 tailors, alter, the uniforms, to the specific, measures of each cadet we take them apart we, put them together and. Do the alterations, we like to see the. Smile on their faces when they come in and you know get fitted. When. They receive the tunics and they know that you, know they're wearing a prestigious, garments. The. Week before graduation. Cadets, attend what's known as the regimental, dinner held, in the officers, mess it's. A tradition, that according, to the RCMP. Media, has not been allowed to attend, before now it, exposes, them to the. Importance, of our history. We. Adhere to some very old traditions. That we've inherited from, the, British Army and the Canadian Army that we've made our own. One. Seat at the table is left unoccupied to. Honor the memory of the more than 240. RCMP. Officers, who have died in the line of duty. It's. Really, a culmination, of, that, family, piece, that we talked about right from the beginning that building, them that esprit de corps sitting, there together as the four celebrating. The organization, that they're just about to join.
Before. They graduate, cadets, take part in the oath ceremony. This. True took their oaths in French. After. Taking the oaths the, cadets remove the epaulets, from their uniforms. Signifying. That they're no longer cadets. They've, become members. Of them out of place. They. Grow to inches and they look so proud and their. Families, and their friends when they see them are so proud of what they've achieved. Canadians. Trust the RCMP, and have for a very long time. It's. Fragile and we have to make sure that, we maintain them. You. You. You.
2020-02-25 21:27
