The detachment here in The Pas is arguably one of the best in Manitoba. I was not expecting something this huge in a town of this size. The detachment itself is about half a block long and has enough room to hold everything that we need. It has a workout room, a large conference room, a big cell area and even underground parking. The staff here are great especially the ones on my watch, I work with them everyt shift.
When I first got here I didn't do anything without my trainer, not even drive a car. That is because in Manitoba you have to write an additional exam to drive a police car, so when I first got here I couldn't even drive!!
Now I only send my files to my trainer for review, I haven't worked with him in quite some time now. I usually do my own work and then respond to calls with whoever is working that day. And on that note let me tell you some days there are a LOT of calls. The Pas is the second busiest detachment in Northern Manitoba, so on a busy day we are run off of our feet. Oh, if you are curious Thompson is the busiest detachment in terms of number of files each year.
The calls here are mainly criminal code files, a lot of assaults and break and enters, we even had two armed robberies.
Being at a busy detachment like this is perfect for someone like me who is just starting out. I have been on calls that most recruits would never get to experience at a smaller detachment. I have been to a few sudden deaths and helped the detectives do search warrants for drugs and child pornography.
Things are changing here in The Pas, the reserve across the river from us had their own police force that shadowed us and took minor calls from the reserve. They are now being replaced by a full fledged RCMP detachment. That means that were are losing about 5 or 6 members from our detachment and will have to re-arrange our whole schedule. But hopefully it will all work out and things will continue to run smoothly.
It is hard to believe that more than four months has gone by since I graduated from Depot. Just to think that a year ago I was checking my messages every day and hoping to get a call from the RCMP. Now thanks to the arrival of the newest recruit I am no longer the junior member of the detachment!
Oh well another midnight shift awaits me and I have to get ready. By the way if you want to check out our detachment here is a link.