On occasion I get hits on the blog from people who appear to be considering a career in the RCMP. Hit’s such as "Life in Depot Blog", "What does a Mountie do blog", or even "I want a career in the RCMP". It’s a great life, and the greatest job in the world, and I don’t ever regret having chosen it as a life. So if you’ve found me because you’re looking for advice on what makes a good mountie, here is my two cents worth, Clare’s philosophy on being a good mountie.
1) Treat Everyone with respect.
This is harder than it might seem, for in your career you will run across people who have done things so reprehensible that it will make you sick, and make you want to punish them. But it underpins everything and is the mark of the best policemen and women I know. It will also pay surprising dividends. It will keep you safer, and it will help you solve crime. An example.
Often, when we worked all night and into the morning at a particular detachment I worked at, we’d stop and have breakfast at a local restaurant. This particular morning I was by myself, and when I got to the restaurant it was full. I looked around and saw a young guy sitting by himself in a booth. No stranger to the law, his path had crossed mine numerous time, and often involved me arresting him. I walked over and asked if I could sit down. "What do you want?" was his not-unanticipated reply. Breakfast, was my answer, there’s no place else to sit.
So I sat down, ordered and began talking about anything other than police work. I knew he played the guitar so we talked about music. We talked about women, we talked about sports. In short we had a normal conversation, like all the others that were swirling about us. When he got up to go I told him I’d get his breakfast, he thanked me and left.
A couple of months later, at about 3:00 o’clock in the morning he called me at my home. He asked if I knew who he was and when I said "of course." he started talking. He asked me if I knew about the Break and Enter to a certain business, which of course I did. He then asked me if I wanted to solve it, which of course I did. So he told me who was responsible, how they broke in, and where the stolen goods that were left were hidden. He then told, that this was the only time he was going to do this, and he was only doing this because I was the only policeman who treated him as something other than a piece of scat. It turned out that it wasn’t the only time he called me in the early morning hours with information on a crime, and we had a very productive working relationship during my time at the detachment.
2. Don’t confuse the first point with not doing your job.
You’ve got a job to do. Do it. Sometimes it is an extremely unpleasant job, and it involves being unpleasant and not very nice to some people. You can do what is required of you, and still be respectful. I mean you might have to have a knock down drag out fight with someone, but at the end of it all you don’t belittle them in front of their friends. Oh, and do your job in an equal manner to whoever you deal with. One day you’re going to find a, say Firefighter on holidays, passed out in a parking lot. As tempting as it is to give him a cell, he needs to go into the drunk tank, the same as the Rubby you put in an hour earlier. It’s about being fair (to everyone) and respectful (to the Rubby). It’s your job, even if it makes you feel like a piece of scat.
3. You’re not going to change the world, but you will change somebody’s world.
You are going to impact somebody’s world so act accordingly. All though it might all seem to be routine to you, you are often present at the most significant events in some people’s lives. From telling someone that their sister is dead, to having that talk that finally convinces someone that a life of abuse is a life they can live with out, someday, somewhere, you will change someone’s life. And it might not even be apparent, even a simple act of smiling at and patting a young kid on the head can have a profound effect on them. I know. Someone, whose life was changed by an anonymous Mountie doing that very thing, told me so.
4. Few things in life are more stressful to the average Joe than a Traffic stop.
When you find yourself doing Traffic detail, give someone a ticket or a lecture, never both.
5. Respect the law.
Seems self evident, but you can’t expect people to respect it if you don’t. Wear your seatbelt, don’t speed, and stop at that stop sign.
6. Care about where you live.
I once had a member tell me, while talking about a former detachment, "I really cared about what happened in that town. My children were growing up there". Well my children are growing up in this one, and I want the police to care about the place where they are growing up.
7. Look after yourself.
This is the police version of the airlines’ advice to put on your own oxygen mask before you help someone else. You can’t help your family, your partners, or the public if you are dead or otherwise incapacitated. Officer safety should be your priority. Police work, in general, is not that dangerous. You have a greater chance of injury or death if you are a farmer. But it is different than most other professions in that often our injuries or deaths are the result of someone’s wilful act. I’ve had people want, and try, to kill me. If you don’t look after yourself you are no good to anyone. Back in the Dark Ages when we had a choice about wearing body armour I used to tell those around me who didn’t wear theirs to put it on, because they can’t save my life if they’re dead.
Oh, and this applies to your mental health as well. Look after it, and that includes talking to people about what is happening in your life, including therapists and psychiatrists or psychologists. And if you’re thinking you’re protecting your wife/husband/significant other/main squeeze by not letting them know what is happening in your life at work you’re wrong. You’re hurting them, and you’re hurting yourself.
So there, now you know. Or at least the first seven points. Go forth and police.
Comments
7 responses
In truth, Clare, I think your post contains relevant and excellent advice for living life, not just how to be a good RCMP officer. All of us can use it in work and daily life (although I don’t think in my profession I’ll ever give a traffic ticket, but I’ll use that advice for when a student misbehaves – detention or lecture, not both). Thanks for the reminder of good life practice!
I agree with Jennifer. Good way to live your life even if you aren’t an RCMP.
Great post Clare – I’m just even more sorry we’ll not get that cup of hot choc in London: at least I understand better how you remain so polite with me even when we are on the opposite side of some strongly-felt and contentious issues! Have a great trip…
Putting source information on the open net might not be the best idea………just a though.
Of course you’re right Jeff, normally. But for reasons I don’t really need to touch on here it would no longer be an issue with this source. Plus the information is obtuse enough that it would have been difficult to identify him as it is.
“4. Few things in life are more stressful to the average Joe than a Traffic stop.
When you find yourself doing Traffic detail, give someone a ticket or a lecture, never both.”
Through my life, I have been lucky and dealt with nothing but very professional RCMP officers… then again, I’ve always followed the advice that officers are just people doing a job, and respond accordingly.
Pull me over, you’ll get a smile, and a lame attempt at using the “Get Out of Jail Free” card from a Monoploy set as a way to beat my ticket.
I’ve received both tickets and lectures, but never the same time. Solid advice.
I’m working backwards throughout your blog and I’m really enjoying it. A-Bay is one of the communities I want APTN to send me to — Nanisivik is big national news — and I’m sure I’ll be seeing the House when I stay there.
Hi Kent, welcome to The House. I’ve been following your blog for about a month now.
Thanks for the comments, and we’re looking forward to seeing you up here in Arctic Bay.