One of the most challenging days from this summer’s Delta Police Student Police Academy happened in the second week when 23 trainees fired police service Glocks at the range. The students then ran through a high-stress obstacle course that involved using pepper spray, moving a bag that simulated rescuing a person -- then had to slow down and answer simple math questions -- all while the adrenaline was still pumping.
That’s when Macy McLaren-McAvoy learned about the high demands of police work.
“You have to be focused the whole time because you don’t want to screw up. Because if you screw up, something bad can happen, like something really bad. Like you’re holding a gun. You have so many things in your pocket. It’s a huge responsibility to keep up the profile of the police officer as well,” said McLaren-McAvoy, a recent grad of North Delta’s Seaquam Secondary.
After a two-year pandemic hiatus during which the academy was offered virtually, Delta Police resumed the hands-on course which involves high-school students participating in two weeks of intensive instruction about police work.
Students learned about police and the law, took the police officer physical ability test, marching and drill, learned about the canine unit and emergency response, major crime investigations, self-defence, baton and the use of force.
Twenty-three students who graduated from that course, now have a step up on a possible job if they decide on a career in law enforcement.
Staff Sgt James Sandberg said police regularly encounter situations that require adrenaline pounding action one moment -- and calm, restraint and compassion the next. Officers can be involved in a foot pursuit one moment then minutes later can be going to a false alarm call, he said.
“Policing can go from zero to a hundred, back to zero, in a very short period of time,” he explained. “You have to be able to bring yourself back down.”
McLaren-McAvoy had been considering a career as a police officer but after taking the course, she’s now certain she’ll be applying when she completes her two years at Douglas College.
After completing the course, McLaren-McAvoy said what most surprised her was the amount of teamwork the job requires.
“The thing I noticed with the constables is they have such a deep bond with each other. I don’t think I realized just how much of a community the police department is,” she said.
Sandberg said offering the course is a way of reaching out to the community, and is also a way to recruit new constables in an economic environment with drastic labour shortages. Those shortages have been amplified by the start-up Surrey Police Service which so far has lured about 25 Delta officers to the new department.
Currently, seven officers who are now serving with DPD have previously attended the Student Police Academy. That shows the department is community based, he added.
“It’s a way of making us a bit more transparent . . . which is good, to build public trust and accountability,” said Sandberg.
Law enforcement in recent years has been challenged by “high-profile events that don’t necessarily flatter law enforcement,” Sandberg added.
It takes a lot of work and time to build public trust and just one event to erode it. “And it’s not lost on us,” he said.
