Elias comes in to sign the initial paperwork to join the Service. On the road, Amanda takes calls for service while providing some insight into putting her learning to work.
Rachel This is Into the Blue – A podcast about becoming an officer with the Waterloo Regional Police Service.
For each episode, we start with a theme and bring you two perspectives – one from an officer in training and another from an officer in the community. In this episode it’s all about getting started.
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Rachel Hello Mark
Mark Hello Rachel
Rachel Mark, you are the Service’s Digital Content Coordinator and we’ve put you on this assignment to help dig up the stories for this podcast. What are we hoping the listener gets out of this series?
Mark Rachel, you are a police officer and you work every day in our recruiting branch and as you know, our process from being hired to a fully-fledged police officer is very involved and expects a lot of applicants. We’re trying to give anyone thinking of applying a realistic understanding of both the process of becoming a police officer, the training and what the day-to-day actually looks like.
Rachel That makes a lot of sense. We have a lot of officers – I’m curious to know who you ended up finding to follow?
Mark We’re hoping to tell the story through two of our members - one brand new officer just starting out - Elias and, Amanda, who has been on a few years.
First up, let’s meet Elias.
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Mark I’ve been following Elias right from the job offer and through his training over the last few months. So, the first time I met him, he had just made it through our process and was coming in, unknowingly to be offered a job.
EliasI was waiting for that phone call as you all were instructed me this day you'll receive that phone call. It was, I believe, 8:30 p.m. Then the phone rang and then I got told I have further questions for my background. I need to be at headquarters the next day. But then he said, don't sleep, don't lose sleep over it.
Mark The process from civilian to a police officer starts with the offer. Most of the times we make that offer over Zoom, but we know how hard Elias worked to become an officer and thought we’d make it a little extra special. There is a very special moment when a person goes from being an applicant becoming a member.
Elias I remember coming through those headquarters doors. I said, Hi, I'm here to meet with Sergeant Michaels, and they matched me in access wise and they saw this one door with a room. I walked in, large windows and I saw Sergeant Michaels there greeting me.
Elias It’scrazy to say it's a dream come true, but it's a dream come true. I was sweating the entire time, but you feel that moment of relief. But it also didn't feel real at the same time, because I felt like I've been dreaming of that exact same moment every single day. Even when I worked at a tech company, I worked right across Central Division. And every time I saw those police officers testing their lights before their shifts, it was just an itch and itch to just get started.
Mark For Elias, wanting to be a police officer was a goal he set for himself when he immigrated to Canada from Jordan over a decade and half ago.
Elias So my mom is originally from Canada and but we lived in Jordan and with my dad, but we ended up coming back in 2008 with her and my two sisters. And yeah, I came here in August. On August 2008, I remember that date because it was a critical day in my life. I came here with zero words of English. I started interacting with Waterloo Regional Police officers through a different youth programs. It confirmed my dream of becoming a police officer, especially when you see policing from across the world, how it's so different. Did the Cops and youth program. And actually threw out my volunteering because police officers were my role models. Actually, that's how I started learning English, just communicating with the community, interacting. And here I am today.
Ben I’m just taking a minute to take all this in. Looking around this room I couldn’t be more proud of the people that I’m seeing joining our policing family at the Waterloo Regional Police Service. So, thank you again so much for coming here today. Today is a wonderful day, is that you're going to be signing your conditional offer and it's going to confirm that all of your hard work, your dedication, and the biggest thing here is you showed us who you are.
Elias felt the journey to become a police officer really kicked into high gear the moment he signed those papers, and just a few days later he put his uniform on for the first time.
Mark How did that feel putting that uniform on for the first time?
Elias It felt real. Like when you put on that uniform, when you're when you're signing your papers, you're signing your papers. But when you put on that uniform, it's like, wow, It's like I have the pants with the red stripe that you always used to see, the badges, the patches, right on both of your arms.
You're representing the service. And it's it holds great authority when you wear that uniform because it holds tremendous powers in terms of assisting others. And all the legal obligations that come with it. Once again, it felt right when they started putting the duty belts on, explaining to us how to put everything on your fast or on your belt, such as the CEW, Taser, the baton, the OC spray, the holster, the radio pouch. It just felt so right. It is so hard to explain. It’s like pieces of a puzzle coming together that are painting a full picture. It’s like you’ve always envisioned yourself in that uniform. And once you see yourself in the mirror and you see it, it's just. It's that feeling that you feel. It's unique to everyone. I've talked to multiple people about it. It's so unique because it really is a validation and a confirmation of all your hard work and efforts. But you also got to understand it's only the start of a whole brand-new journey. Policing is not like any other career.
Mark I feel like you can speak with any officer, and they can tell you the exact moment when they put that uniform on. Has that ever happened to you Rachel?
Rachel Yeah, Yeah. When I think about I'm trying to think back to when I first put my uniform on. It was like 17 years ago and I remember it being very surreal, like looking in the mirror with the uniform on, thinking, Is this really me? And then feeling very proud that I was able to accomplish the goal that I had set for myself for sure.
Mark Yeah. Even later when I talk to another officer and I get a very similar story. So, no matter who you talk to, everyone knows where the near was. Yeah, it was here at quarters, but no matter where it was, it was definitely probably a special moment.
Mark: Once the offer is made, the process moves pretty quick. Elias signed on a Thursday and started work here on the following Monday in training. We are going to follow him through all that training, but I think we’ll leave him here for the moment and check back in our next episode. At this point, it’s probably a good idea for us to take a step back and explain the big picture off all the training he and all others new officer will go through. Do you find that people have a full understanding of all that training?
Rachel Yeah. So, I meet with a lot of people who are interested in applying. And so, I explain to them the entire time period of training just initially. Of course, we keep training every year. We do our qualifications every year. But when you first get hired, I think people are surprised that you do. You know, I think it's almost about seven and a half or eight months of training in total from, you know, our in-house training with the training branch going to under a police college and then post training with our training branch and then being with your coach officer for that period of time, which you can understand why we do that much training. There's a lot to learn. And truthfully, you're always learning. I you know, I'm still learning. You can never know everything. But I definitely think people underestimate the amount of training that we do.
Mark I think that's fair to say. I've talked to a lot of people and kind of the same subject and they said, you know, it's a bit of a wall of knowledge when you're coming in and it's a fire hose, which you'll hear them use that term a couple of times.
A new officer goes through a lot of practical and academic training over the first six months after being hired. I spoke with Staff Sergeant Halliday, who many may recognize from his time on our recruiting outreach team, he’s actually the supervisor for our training unit. He's actually his home position is the supervisor for our training unit. So, he's back there now. He's going to join us on a few trips down to the police college later in a few episodes.
Matt So initially, when we have a new recruit, we are taking people who usually have no experience in policing or the law or it's a very different job to do. So, we really have to onboard a lot of information very, very quickly, take them from that civilian realm and bring them to the police officer realm.
Mark: After being hired, they first attend classes at our police headquarters for three weeks and we call this “Pre-Ontario Police College Training”. Next, a recruit attends the Ontario Police College virtually through online training for three weeks using computers at police headquarters.
That is followed by 11 weeks in-person at the Ontario Police College in Aylmer Ontario. Once they graduate the police college, they return to our Service for 7 weeks of what we call post-OPC training.
Finally, each recruit needs to complete 48 shifts under the guidance of a coach officer responding to all types of calls alongside full-fledged police officers.
Matt They go to shoplifters, arrest people on warrants, do for patrols. They run alongside the sergeants so that they the management team of that shift has a good idea of who they are and maybe what the limitations are, what they need to work on, what their strengths are. For good measure, there is a few more training days mixed in with those coaching shifts.
Mark After all of this is when a recruit is able to go solo, taking calls on their own as a member of our Neighbourhood Policing Patrol. Rachel, how would you describe patrol?
Rachel Yeah. So, patrol is the role that everybody starts out as a police officer. Even if you want to be a detective later, you always have to start on patrol. In patrol, you are riding in the police car, you're out in the community. You are responding to all the calls for service. So, whether they're 911 calls or non-emergency calls and, you know, whatever the needs are in the community, that's the calls that you're attending to. You know, patrol doesn't just only entail responding to calls for service. I think a lot of people don't know the amount of paperwork that goes on the back end of that, you know, making our notes in our notebook for everything that we're doing as well as, you know, if you end up arresting somebody, doing statements, processing the person, taking the cell block, doing a court package, you know, attending court, there's so many things that you have to do as a patrol officer, but your main role is responding to calls for service within the community.
Mark So, it's really that officer, when you're seeing that cruiser driving by in the community, that's the officer, not generally driving plain clothed vehicle, Right? Yeah, That very obvious presence. Yes. Most likely if you're calling in for service, majority of the calls – probably a patrol officer.
Rachel Yeah. Yeah, that's right. They're in a marked car, They're always in a police uniform. They're the ones are very visible. So, if you pretty much most calls for service that are made, it's a patrol officer who's going to be the initial person responding.
Mark: We want to bring that perspective of what it's like also on patrol kind of into. So, we're going to paired up with kind of what Elias is learning down to OPC with someone who's been on a couple of years and has some of the experience, kind of compare the two together so you can really get an understanding of what they do and in a shift where the skills kind of come from. So, that is where I am going to bring in Amanda.
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Mark: Amanda is an officer, who’s working in patrol and is assigned to our South division in Cambridge. She was kind enough to entertain me riding along with her to really help get an understanding of what that job looks like and how she uses everything she learned through the training process. Amanda is much like Elias in the sense that she knew she wanted to be a police officer from a young age.
Amanda Okay, So I was in grade eight and I went to a field trip and I saw a female police officer speaking. And that was kind of the first time I realized that a female could do this job. And it was something that stuck with me. And then I ran cross-country in high school, and my coach was an OPP officer, and he had a big influence on me.
So just another example of another great person being an officer. And I didn't have anyone in my family that were police officers. But just through those couple examples that inspired me to do this job.
I was so excited. It felt like a very proud, um, moment. Especially when you dream about wanting to do this. And because I wanted to be a police officer since I was probably 13 or 14. It was just one of the most exciting days.
Mark Amanda really stood out to me as someone who knew what she wanted to do from an early age – all of her choices in high school through post-secondary education were to help her be prepared for the job.
Amanda Yeah. So, I graduated from high school in 2014 and I went to University of Waterloo for legal Studies, and I did my minor in human Resources. I graduated in 2018 and after that I did a post-grad at Conestoga College and mental health and addictions. I figured it was something that would really help me with this job path. And then right after that, in 2019, I applied and then I got hired.
Mark So, Rachel, these two cases are pretty close together. So both Amanda and Elias, I mean, that's something we do for a long time. But there's really a spectrum probably of the type of people that are applying. It's this typical that you're seeing in applications these days are what do you think?
Rachel There's honestly a big mixture. There's definitely some people who it's been their dream since they were a kid to be a police officer and serve the community. But we also have people coming into it, you know, as a second career. Maybe they are not fulfilled in whatever job that they're doing and they want to do something more meaningful. And they're, you know, seeking out policing as a career that would be more fulfilling to them. So, it really is a mixed bag.
Mark So, I met Amanda at our South Division building that is just off the busy Hespeler Road in Cambridge. She had started her shift before me and it sounded like it had already been a busy afternoon. After a quick check in with her supervisor, we headed out in her fully-marked Ford Explorer SUV police cruiser. I was hoping to get a few questions in before she got really busy -
Mark What do you find most challenging about the day to day job? Nat Sound Radio Call
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Mark But, I didn’t get very far in my questions until the first call came in.
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Mark One thing I noticed right away is all the details and things Amanda needed to know or understand. While she made it look effortless, on this simple shoplifting call there are so many things you need to know from what she’s allowed to do to how she interacts with her coworkers and even the shoplifters.
Amanda Yeah. So. Yep. So, two people were arrested for shoplifting for a theft under. They concealed some meat and didn't pay for it. And they were arrested not far from the store. And one person will be released on an undertaking and the other person was trespassed. And now I'm just getting some statements and video and a receipt.
Mark If there was a take-away from seeing her work on this call and others, it’s that I would say being a police officer doesn’t come naturally – it involves a lot of preparation and learning. No one comes in knowing all of these things needed to be a police officer, there is a steep learning curve right at the start of your career.
Amanda So you learn your authority. So, you have to no grounds to arrest someone or what reasonable grounds are and your authority to arrest someone and not call with the charges theft under. So, taking the product without paying for it or making no attempt to pay, that would be something that you would learn to OPC. I really do have to think far back.
So, I had to do notes for that. Getting statements. Uh, I don't even know if interviewing skills were debatable. If you learn that OPC, what else do you learn? I mean, it's.
Mark This podcast really focuses on that process of becoming the police officer and what they do in their everyday job. However, one thing that is apparent is that both Elias and Amanda have come into the role ready and prepared to learn. They’ve decided years of the lives and tailored everything from school, to volunteering and sports to ready themselves for this very demanding job.
Rachel I think I mean, I don't think you have to tailor your life and your education to policing specifically. Like we always tell people, you don't have to go to police foundations like any kind of education you want to do that you're passionate about. It's going to give you skills that will be transferable into policing. But I definitely think coming into it with an open mindset and ready to learn because regardless of your educational background, the learning curve is super high. So, come in and be ready to and open to, you know, learn from everybody that you meet because every police officer also has different strengths and things that they can teach you. So yeah, definitely.
Rachel So, we will leave Amanda and Elias there for now and we’ll check back with them in the next episode, picking up with Elias at as he starts his training here at home at our Service and Amanda as she takes some calls for service on Patrol in Cambridge. Mark, thanks for joining me, we can’t wait to hear what is coming up next.
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Into the Blue is production by the Waterloo Regional Police Service. It is hosted by Rachel Molnar and produced, reported and edited by Mark Araujo. Supervising director is Cherri Greeno.
Special thank you to the entire dedicated training team at the Ontario Police College, as well as the WRPS Training and Education Branch – without their collaboration this production would not be possible