RCMP looking to hire community program officer

By Carolyn Sloan

The Spectator

NovaNewsNow.com

If all goes well, the RCMP Bridgetown detachment will receive a community program officer before long.

The position, which is a pilot project funded by the County of Annapolis, is focused on delivering youth development and crime prevention programs to enhance the RCMP’s service delivery. While the interview process has fallen somewhat behind schedule, Staff Sgt. John Ennis hopes that the hiring committee will meet with the shortlisted applicants toward the end of the month. Until then, he will be trying to figure out how to provide training for the new position, as the opportunity to take advantage of the training program in New Bruswick has already passed.

“It (the CPO position) is a new way of trying to make use of the resources you have,” Ennis describes. “It would give us more time with everything going on around us to work with youth.”

The Bridgetown detachment were inspired to create the CPO position after speaking with Inspector Dale Bogle, who is overseeing the RCMP’s Client Service Enhancement Project in Atlantic Canada. The project came out of a desire among officers to enhance the community development, crime prevention, and strategic direction side of their day-to-day operations.

With provincial funding in place, Bogle has been organizing training programming for community program officers in New Brunswick, and says he has already seen a vast improvement in terms of enhancing the prevention and strategic side of the service. While through no fault of their own, officers often have to devote their attention to urgent and timely matters, taking away from the time they have to spend in schools and throughout the community, he explains. Having a position devoted to community programming frees other police officers to focus on law enforcement and crimes investigation.

“This allows more school visits,” Bogle explains. “I think we’re able to guide youth that are heading down the wrong path.

“With today’s challenging environment, I think we have to look at a multi-tiered approach.”

With the success of the senior safety program already in place, Ennis thought that the youth-focused development position would be a great fit for Annapolis County. He is hoping that the successful applicant will be able to run youth programs in the summertime involving the RCMP.