Posted on February 9, 2010 by Sandra in Recruiting
There have been several emails in my inbox with questions about the physical side of law enforcement, and what potential recruits can do to prepare themselves.
There is the need to be strong enough, fast enough, and fit enough to do the job – yes, you do need to be all of these things. Different sections within the department have different physical requirements, with patrol, Dog Squad and the Emergency Response Team having the most obvious need for their members to be physically fit.
A patrol officer has to be able to chase after and physically subdue (if required) a fleeing suspect. The physical test, which includes the Police Officer’s Physical Abilities Test (POPAT), is specifically designed to test an applicants ability to do this.
A Dog Squad officer has the added requirement of being able to lift their dog over an obstacle and scale that same obstacle themselves, as well as be able to contort themselves into places where their dog leads them, whether it be a culvert, through a blackberry patch, or up the side of a mountain. They have to be able to keep up with their dog, sometimes for several kilometers through harsh terrain.
Then the Emergency Response Team officer, who must meet all of the above requirements, has the added need to be able to carry X pounds of gear, various firearms, and emergency supplies/equipment while still being able to be mentally alert. These officers are held to the highest physical standard – as they should be. Their training courses are intense (I can vouch for that, having taken part in one of the courses – the course kicked my butt, but was some of the best training I’ve ever had) and not for the faint of heart.
So, what does an applicant do to prepare themselves for the POPAT?
First, understand that you have to be able to run 2.4 kilometers (1.5 miles) in under twelve minutes. You also have to complete the POPAT in under four minutes and fifteen seconds. Here is a video of Vancouver Police Chief Jim Chu explaining the POPAT and running through it himself:
How do you train for these? Start running. Time yourself. Run the Sea Wall if you can, and follow the route the actual test takes – one and a half times around Brocton Oval, down to the Sea Wall, then West on the Sea Wall, past the Lighthouse, finishing at a big tree stump even with the North entrance to Brocton Oval. If you can not run the distance in under twelve minutes, train harder.
As for the POPAT, the VPD offers drop-in sessions for current applicants. If you cannot make it to one of these sessions, then start cross training. Do stairs, sit-ups, crunches and any interval training you can think of. Train hard because the harder you train, the easier the test will be.
You do not to be a ‘naturally gifted athlete’. Instead, you need to be a person who is willing and able to train hard, to push yourself, and to take constructive criticism about what you can do better. One of the best feelings in the world is to know you have done your absolute best and excelled because of it.
Posted on February 4, 2010 by Sandra in Recruiting
I recently had a conversation with a colleague of mine about what we should communicate to people considering a career in law enforcement.
My colleague, who helps with recruit training, said the following question should be asked of all police hopefuls:
“Why do you want to be a police officer?”
Most will give the appropriate answer of wanting to help people, of wanting to give back to their communities, and of wanting to make a difference. While all of these answers are just and true, and are all issues any new/prospective recruit should be thinking about, the real answer lies in how the question is answered.
There should be some element of wanting to catch the bad guy.
Yes, you read that correctly. For all the political correctness in this world, there remains the need to put bad guys in jail. To do so, a police officer has to think like a bad guy to catch one, and has to educate him/herself on how crooks commit crime, how bad guys flee crime scenes, as well as the patterns and nuances of actual crimes. I covered this in some detail last year with a post about mind set, but it is important enough to bring up again.
Another question that any new officer or prospect needs to ask themselves is whether or not they are ready/willing/able to use force when it is required. Much of policing utilizes an officers skill at verbal judo, but there are times when force is a necessity.
So, if you are a police hopeful, ask yourself the following:
Are you ready to protect yourself and others by using the appropriate level of force to control the situation?
Are you ready to use lethal force to protect yourself and/or others from grievous bodily harm and/or death?
This means looking at who you are as a person. Look deep down inside.
For all it’s job security, policing is a job that requires quite a bit of courage and a readiness to do battle if called upon. You need to be able to step up and take control of volitile situations, verbally or physically, and you have to have the maturity and where-with-all to explain why you took the action you did. You have to expect to be challenged, to be confronted, to be physically and verbally assaulted.
If these are questions you can answer in the affirmative, then law enforcement just might be the career for you.
I have been fielding many questions and emails about the recruiting process for the Vancouver Police Department and what the general requirements are to become a police officer. As a result, the FAQ’s section has more links to the VPD’s Recruiting website where most of those questions can be answered.
Some of the questions I have been asked do not relate directly to the application process itself, but are about my experiences in the actual job. Questions like “Do you like your job?” to “Do you regret ever becoming an officer?” to “What is it like to be a woman in what many still consider a male dominated profession?”
Hopefully, by reading this blog, most of those questions can be answered as well. But to take it further, reader ‘Jane Doe’ (I promised I wouldn’t reveal her identity) recently sent me an email. A portion of her letter and my response are copied below, and may fill in a few more of the blanks I am slowly trying to fill.
Dear Constable Sandra Glendinning,
I am looking into a career in policing. I’ve been to information sessions here in Ontario and have spoken to recruiters, but I still feel I am missing some information. I have all the black and white information, but perhaps the gray is missing. Perhaps you can give me some advice.
Do you ever regret entering policing?
What sort of questions should I be asking myself about policing?
Every officer I’ve spoken to here in Ontario say “they like what they do, that there are good days and bad.” They all say for me to go to an information session and then ‘we’ll talk’.
I know a supportive family helps, and I am ready to train and give 100%. Cst. Glendinning, can you give me some insight?
Thank you for your time,
‘Jane Doe’
Here was my response:
Hello Jane,
Thank you for sending your email, and I’ll do my best to answer your questions.
Policing is a career I never regret getting into. I first considered policing after listening to a police woman speak about her job during a ‘Career Night’ at my high school many years ago – Thank you, Linda Stewart. I knew from her stories and my personality that policing would be a good fit.
The officers you have spoken to in Ontario are right – there are good days and then there are bad, just like any other job. But I really do think the good days in policing are better than the good days at other most other places of employment.
Good days in policing are when a call ends well, when a victim is rescued, when a serial robber or rapist is finally caught. Good days in policing happen after officers put not just their energy and experience into solving a case, but also some of their emotion and their heart. Good days are when you really have made a difference in someones life. The elation can last for weeks, and a ‘good’ case usually becomes a favorite to retell years later.
On the flip side, bad days in policing are, for the most part, much worse than those in other jobs. Because of the emotion, blood, sweat and tears put into some cases there are dark days when such a case ends poorly or without the desired result. When a victim is found dead, when a bad guy slips through our net, when an officer is injured or killed. Those are dark days indeed.
Someone once told me that working in K9 would be an extension of that – as K9 officers we experience the highest of the highs and the lowest of the lows. I’ve been through both ends of the spectrum, and I can tell you the person who told me that was right. Some of my best moments in policing have been experienced during my time as a K9 officer. Some of my most difficult times have been as a K9 officer as well, but even then, I have never once regretted my career choice. Policing is in my blood, and I could not imagine doing anything else.
So when looking into a career in policing, you have to ask yourself if your personality is a good fit. Are you able to think on your feet? Are you willing to train and work hard and be a team player? Are you able to understand that there will be bad days and that you will have to come up with a coping strategy to get you through them? Are you able to understand that there will also be good days, and those days will be made so much sweeter by the hell you witness on a regular basis?
The rules and laws of Canada are in black and white, but the beauty of policing is all in the shades of gray. Your recruiters are right – go to an info session. Speak to as many officers as you can. Try and get on a ride along (if permitted in your area), or volunteer at the police station. Spend time evaluating your own personality, and if you truly believe you are a good fit for policing, then stick with it.
Best of luck, and thanks for reading,
Sandra
It’s the gray bits everyone wants to know about, but they are also the bits hardest to put into words.
It’s easy to explain why I gave someone a speeding ticket, or why I arrested a person for assault as those are infractions and crimes clearly laid out in our criminal justice system. It’s all the stuff in between the lines that make this job what it is, and often, you have to have been there to be really appreciate the subtleties.
By sharing some of my experiences, which in essence are experiences shared by almost all officers, I’m hoping to bring the ‘have to have been there’ aspect to a bigger audience to show that police officers are regular people who have simply been exposed to more of life’s underbelly.
Regardless of where an officer works within the VPD, ‘team’ is serious business. The Dog Squad, ERT, investigative squads and patrol squads – all rely on their individual members to make the team function like the well oiled machine it is.
Take, for instance, patrol squads. When a priority call comes in and everyone goes racing to the scene, the call will almost run itself if all those involved keep their heads and do the job they are supposed to do. The responding officers are Jack & Jills of All Trades, so it does not matter if their job for the day is rescuing the injured, containing a crime scene or taking witness statements; an officer does his/her job knowing their contribution to the whole is an important one.
Thankfully, this is what usually happens and the bad guys go to jail.
Another angle on ‘team’ – how different sub-teams within the department help one another and work together on a daily basis. Robbery Detectives work with the General Investigation Unit, Youth Squad works with the School Liaison Officers, and the Forensic Identification Section works with, well, everyone. Alone, each sub-team might struggle, but together they are very effective.
Here in the Dog Squad we rely on the Patrol Section. As dog handlers, we often call patrol the bread and butter of our existence. It takes the cooperative effort of patrol officers to ensure the police dogs are used to their full capability, and handlers do not take highly functioning patrol squads for granted – instead we fully appreciate what patrol does for us. Our successful ‘dog cases’ belong to every member involved, not just the handler and K9.
This past weekend a friend pointed me to a video of the US Marine Corps Silent Drill Platoon. I had never heard of them before (shame on me…) and did not know what to expect. The following video is a great visual example of how the success of a unit is completely dependant on the actions of each individual member. To quote their website – ‘it exemplifies discipline and skill’. I think you’ll be impressed.
Posted on February 11, 2009 by Sandra in Recruiting
After a news article was released a few weeks ago regarding the NYPD checking the online MySpace and Facebook accounts for applicants, I’ve been asked several times if the Vancouver Police Department is doing the same. The answer is ’sort of’.
In a clipping from The New York Post:
“The NYPD is requiring police recruits who have MySpace or Facebook pages to watch as an investigator sifts through their most private postings. The measure is designed to weed out would-be cops who litter their Web sites with violent or explicit imagery, racist rants and any other material deemed objectionable, a law-enforcement source said. Applicants Processing Division officers are demanding any recruit with an account log on to their pages, even if those pages are private and not accessible to the public, the source said.”
This initiative by the NYPD was the result of the department coming under criticism after inappropriate online comments and postings were made by a few officers and recruits. Since the online scrutiny has begun, several applicants have been denied for:
posting explicit photos involving police uniforms
comments or posts containing racial slurs
comments admitting to gang membership
photos depicting the applicant sporting gang tattoos and making gang signs
When it comes to the Vancouver Police Department, every applicant goes through an extensive background check. If there is a need to check an online profile, then it will be checked.
People have to remember that the ‘internet is forever’ – whenever you introduce anything onto the web, you have to use good judgement and caution. What you post today will still be posted years from now, and you have no expectation of privacy when a comment or photo is posted on a public site. You do not have to be an applicant to a police agency to suffer the consequences of having innappropriate personal information available for anyone to see.
Any social networking website has to be used with common sense. If you have any doubts as to whether or not you should post a photo or comment, then don’t. Facebook, MySpace and Twitter can be a fun tool (or so I’m told – I don’t understand the allure of Facebook, I have this blog so I don’t MySpace, and who in the heck has time to Twitter??) if used properly, but can cause disaster if used in an inappropriate manner.
“We are looking for people who work well in small teams, with strong writing skills and who have post-secondary education. Second languages are a plus,as is volunteer community experience in any type of public safety role.” – Sergeant Carol Tarnowsky of the Vancouver Police Recruiting section.
As can be seen from the above quote, volunteer experience is very important if you are looking to become a member of the Vancouver Police Department. Many of our successful applicants volunteered with Citizens’ Crime Watch - myself included.
Formed in 1986 to give citizens the opportunity to help combat crime in their neighborhoods, Citizens’ Crime Watch (CCW) now has approximately eighty-six volunteers who act as additional eyes and ears for the police.
From the CCW’s website:
“The volunteers are trained and coordinated by a police constable who will work with the volunteers as they patrol the streets of Vancouver in their own cars. Each car is supplied with an iCom radio so that they are in constant contact with their own base radio operator and the coordinator. They call in and report any criminal or suspicious activity.
Citizens volunteer their time to provide the police with extra eyes and ears on Vancouver streets on Friday and Saturday nights throughout the year. CCW members patrol as a team of two using their own vehicle.
Volunteers observe the activity around them. If they witness something unusual such as an assault, purse snatching or theft from auto in progress, they communicate via iCom radio with the CCW coordinator, who is out on patrol with the volunteer members. The coordinator will then initiate the appropriate police action. Much of our recent activities focus on road safety and we deal with issues such as excessive speeding, impaired driving, unsafe driving and others.”
While I was in college, another student in the Criminal Justice Program approached the rest of us with news the VPD’s Citizens’ Crime Watch was looking for more volunteers. A number of us applied to the program, were accepted, and started volunteering with CCW soon after. It was a fantastic way to see if policing was the right career, and gave great insight into the workings of the police department. Even though we, as volunteers, did not have access to police scanners etc, our radio communication with our ‘officer’ kept us in the loop. We assisted with many calls – a theft from auto in progress, a hit and run (we chased down the suspect vehicle and held onto the driver as he tried to flee – even though I’m not sure we were supposed to!), and we recovered several stolen cars. For a college kid, not only was volunteering with CCW a lot if fun, it was very educational.
And sprinkled in amongst the college age crowd were the older participants; a retired teacher, a grandmother/grandfather duo, and a few middle-age folks wanting to make a difference in their community. It was a great group. It’s still a great group today.
The need for volunteers continues today. If you are interested in volunteering with the Vancouver Police Department’s Citizens’ Crime Watch, you must be able to meet the following requirements:
Over 19 years of age
Have no criminal record
Be of suitable character
Possess good driving skills and have access to a vehicle for patrols
Have good English skills
Have good observation skills
Have the ability to assess on-view situations and relay details over the radio
The other night, I had the opportunity to take a Block Two recruit out with me for the shift. This officer, ‘Cst. X’, had completed the first stage of police training, and was part way through the practical side of training, before being due to head back to the Academy in a few weeks.
Cst. X had learned and been tested on his knowledge of municipal, provincial and federal law as it applies to policing. He had been taught how to use the equipment he had been issued, and had been run through a barrage of training scenarios before being approved for Block Two. The night he came out with me, Cst. X had only been wearing the Vancouver Police uniform for six weeks.
Cst. X impressed me with his awareness of his surroundings, his tact and his questions. He was eager to learn and was most interested in what he could do as a patrol officer to assist the Dog Squad when responding to a call. As we talked about radio procedures, what to do if he got behind a stolen car, and how to treat a crime scene to preserve the start point for a dog track, Cst X asked what decisions dog handlers have to go through before deploying their dogs. The resulting conversation covered a lot of ground, and neither of us knew Cst. X would soon be involved in a call that would demonstrate how quickly officers have to make decisions based on very little information.
As we were still talking, radio dispatched us to a break and enter in progress. A home owner called 911 to report someone had broken into their tenant’s basement suite, and the suspect was still inside. Patrol units responded and contained the suite. As we drove there, I explained to Cst. X several scenarios of what could happen. The person inside could be related to the tenant. The tenant was out of town and perhaps the person was a house-sitter. The person inside could be a bona-fide crook, and if so, Cst. X would get to see Hondo in action. Or the ‘person’ inside could really just be the sounds of pipes creaking, making the home owner believe someone had broken in.
We arrived at the scene and went to the suite door, which had been damaged. One of the officers obtained the key from the landlord, and when we were ready, she unlocked the door and tried to push it open. The door immediately caught on the security lock which had been secured from the inside. Through the opening, I saw a man sitting on the couch – he jumped to feet, looked at us, and yelled when we announced ourselves. He gathered a blanket to his chest, looking at us with wide eyes. My first thought was, “Dear Lord, he has Down’s Syndrome”, and I backed Hondo off. The man then tried to barricade the door shut, but we were able to force the door open, and officers moved in and took the man into custody.
It was discovered later that the man did not have Downs Syndrome, even thought he had the flat facial profile, upward slant to the eyes and small ears usually associated with the condition (thank you KidsHealth.org for the information on the physical characteristics). He was ultimately arrested for breaking and entering, and the investigation is still ongoing to determine links, if any, with the tenant.
Cst. X asked me why I had back Hondo off. Even though we were responding to a break and enter with all the information leading me to believe the man inside the suite had committed a crime, I decided at the last second to not deploy the police dog based on my extremely brief observation about the man’s physical characteristics. Turned out my observations were incorrect, but at the time, I did not know that. There were a hundred other little contributing factors involved in that decision, and it came down to me trusting my gut instinct to back the dog off. In this case, it was better to err on the side of caution. Every case is different.
After hearing my explanation, Cst. X sat back and was silent for a few moments before he commented on how fast a police officer has to make decisions, especially in circumstances where there is a use of force. I explained that each officer is responsible for their own ‘use of force’, and has to be able to articulate their own actions, regardless if their situation involved a traffic ticket, a hard arrest, or a shooting. We, as police officers, are expected to remain calm under stress, and to make split-second decisions that could have life or death consequences. It is easy to arm-chair quarterback these types of calls after the fact, but in the heat of the moment, you have to trust yourself to make the right decision.
At that, Cst. X took a deep breath, as if contemplating what a serious career he has ahead of him. In truth, he does have a serious career. He has been given a great amount of responsibility. But if he is anything like most of the other officers I know, and I have the feeling he is, Cst. X will do us proud.
Posted on January 27, 2009 by Sandra in Recruiting
A couple of years ago, when I was a brand new dog handler (I still feel new, so go easy), I responded to a break and enter at a local car dealership. Patrol units had responded to an alarm – upon their arrival, they advised dispatch that one of the doors of the dealership had been forced open, and the suspect was possibly still inside.
Let me tell you folks, such broadcasts are music to a dog handlers ears.
Because the car dealership covered more than a square block, I asked for clarification on which side of the premise the forced door was. The unit at scene, a recent implant from the UK, was prompt in his responding broadcast, but due to the officer’s accent I did not understand a single word he said. It was only from the upward lilt to the end of his sentence I realised the unit had asked me a question.
Hmmm….I did not know what he asked me, and for a brief moment I considered playing innocent. Usually, I understand an Irish/Scottish/English accent and all the accompanying lingo, but not this time. Did I admit defeat and admit my interpretation skills were not up to snuff, or did I blunder on and risk the bad guy getting away? After a considerable passage of radio silence, I finally fessed up and broadcast, “10-9?” (in police terms, 10-9 is a request to repeat the last broadcast). The officer responded with a slow and perfectly enunciated update – “The breached door is on the south side of the building – do you want me to hold it?.”
Needless to say, I found the officer and the breached door a few seconds later, and PSD Hondo searched the building with negative results. A later look at video surveillance showed the suspect had been in and out before the alarm had even sounded, and he was long gone before police arrived onscene…but I digress…
I’ve had the opportunity to work alongside several officers who have previous experience policing in the UK. One helped me search a car dealership, one dug my two-wheel drive Tahoe out of the snow last winter (for which I still owe him a coffee), one is now a Sgt i/c of the Public Order unit (of which Hondo and I are a part of) and another trained alongside me as we went through the four week ERT course. All have been very good at their jobs, and each have brought their UK experiences with them – to our benefit.
Curious as to how they decided to come to Canada, I asked the Recruiting Unit what an officer from overseas had to qualify in to become a member of the VPD. The answer was this – an officer from a country other than Canada HAS to have their permanent resident status confirmed and in place before the Vancouver Police Department will even entertain their application. And then, the officer-from-another-country must go through the same steps as any other applicant – exam, physical test, medical, assessment center, background check and interview.
Policing in the UK is different that Canadian policing. For one, the majority of UK officers are not issued guns – there are specialized firearm units who respond to calls where an armed response is appropriate. On the flip side, UK officers have far more experience than we do on how to handle riot/crowd situations. In a recent training day with the Public Order Unit, PSD Hondo and learned about crowd dynamics. Pretty amazing stuff – where the UK officers have experience being struck with Molotov cocktails, we do not (thank goodness). Is it because of their different society? I’m not sure – I’ll leave that subject for the social structure experts. But we, as the Vancouver Police Department, are a better workforce with the addition of our brothers and sisters from the UK.
Wednesday, February 4th, 7:00 pm, Calgary, Alberta at the Delta Bow Valley Hotel, 209 4th Ave SE (yes, we recruit out of province)
Here’s an interesting fact you may not have known – we have a number of police officers working with the VPD who were originally officers in the UK. With their wealth of experience, these officers have been an incredible asset for the VPD…more on them tomorrow.
Also to come later in the week – I received an email from a police dog handler who works in South Africa. He recalled an incident he attended in the summer of last year, and the story made the hairs on the back of my neck stand up. He has agreed to share his story with you, so all of us in policing can learn how important officer safety is.
Posted on January 12, 2009 by Sandra in Recruiting
In the summer of 1995, the Justice Institute of BC moved from the Point Grey area of Vancouver to its current location in New Westminster. When I started with the Police Academy in the fall of that year, I joined twenty-six other recruits from across BC in the first class to conduct its entire training in the new facility. After hearing horror stories from the old campus of the PT sessions which included the infamous run up Trimble Hill, I wasn’t sad to be starting out my training as far away as possible from the hill in question.
But sometimes, the devil you know is better than the devil you don’t.
What I had overlooked in my glee of being in different jurisdiction than Trimble Hill was the undeniable fact that New Westminster is a very hilly city – I soon found out there was a spectacular view from certain vantage points. Mind you, I’m sure I would have enjoyed the view more had I not been gasping for breath after sprinting up to the summit of what we coined ‘that darned hill’ (the language we used was a bit stronger than that, but you get the point). The ending upward climb of this particular route has been given a name by the leagues of police recruits in the years since, but it will forever be etched in my memory as ’that darned hill’.
The other PT sessions, while strenuous and demanding, were one of the highlights of my training. We were instructed on the use of various types of intermediate weapons, such as the baton and OC spray. We were taught some of the finer points of tactical ground fighting and learned that we did not have to be a master at every move – just pick one or two and practice those ones until you are very good at them. I still use the skills learned over a decade ago, and they have served me well – I was able to take down a man who outweighed me by fifty pounds and was several inches taller than me. Do I recommend doing this? No, not all the time. In this case, I caught the guy by surprise.
PT was tied in with the legal education – we learned about powers of arrest and about the use of force during an arrest or incident. We learned that when dealing with a suspect it is always better to have a cover officer who can watch your back, and we were taught the ‘one plus one’ rule – if there is one gun/weapon/suspect, there is most likely one more, so do not let down your guard until you have cleared your area. We also learned that one of our best weapons against crime is each other. We shared training tips, study guides and knowledge. We learned how to make our communities safer, and how to make it through an otherwise deadly encounter so we can go home at the end of shift to our families.
We also learned it takes more than sheer effort to protect against those who would do us harm. It takes teamwork, and guts, and perseverance. In the same way we ran back for the slower runners coming up ‘that darned hill’, we continue to find strength from one another, and by standing together as a team, we are making a difference.
