Aboriginal recruits sought

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This summer the Ontario Provincial Police will offer its second OPPBound recruitment program in Orillia. The goal of the program is to raise awareness of employment opportunities for Aboriginal men and women within policing.

A week-long camp at the provincial police academy will be held in July to give qualified people the chance to see what a career with the OPP is all about.

Last year's camp focused on recruiting women; this year's camp is exclusively for Aboriginal men and women.

The force is looking for up to 100 people to try OPPBound2004. The deadline for application is May 1.

Inspector Robin Jones said, "OPPBound is a week-long information session, so these people who are selected to attend OPPBound can decide whether or not policing is really a career for them."

There are no quotas set for Aboriginal members, she said.

"If they decide to put their application in, the first round of the testing begins July 16 and 17 ... so once the person has decided to apply to the OPP, the same standard is applied as we would with any other candidate.

Last year, 78 of the 100 women who attended the first OPPBound program signed on as recruits. One of them has already been hired as an OPP officer and several others are nearing the final stages of the process. Currently, 17 per cent of OPP officers are women.

Jones said the organization recognized there were very few women role models available "to help other women decide whether or not policing was a career choice that they wanted to make."

The force finds the same situation exists with Aboriginal people.

"So OPPBound is built around the notion of demystifying what policing as a career really is ...if it's something they're interested in, they can apply."

Jones added that because so much of what police do is confidential, the public tends "to judge policing as a career based on what we see on television."

During the week at the recruitment camp, participants will take an active part in all facets of police life. They will learn about the history and traditions of the force and hear about real life experiences from Aboriginal officers. Fitness drills, police vehicle operations and firearms exercises are part of the program.

"At OPPBound, we give them the better part of a morning and an afternoon on the firearms range. We put them through practical exercises at a crime scene house. So they get to put on our training equipment, belts and vests, and go and investigate the domestic or the neighbour dispute that is happening there.

"We do fitness. A lot of being a police officer is about being in shape, so every morning at OPPBound we're up and out by six o'clock with our runners on, doing something."

Participants learn that doing drill is not as easy as it looks when they see officers march at a memorial service, for instance.

She added the program is "very heavy on the mentoring sessions." Last year an hour-and-a-half was set aside each day when the group was broken into small discussion groups and women officers brought in to talk with them.

"This year we'll be bringing different Aboriginal officers in to talk about their job as a police officer. Obviously there'll be a lot of questions: 'As an Aboriginal man or woman, how did you fit into policing-what were the challenges? How, when you walked down your path, did you gain support? What are some of the defence mechanisms that you've developed? What are some of the tips you can give us to be successful?' How do you manage a career where you work three shifts and (have) lots of overtime, lots of call-out, lots of court-and still maintain your relationship with your husband and raise your kids?'"

To be a candidate for OPPBound, applicants have to be eligible to be a police officer in accordance with the requirements with Ontario's Police Services Act. Candidates must be in the age range of 18 to 65 and physically fit. "Policing is a very physical job."

Other requirements ar to be a Canadian citizen or permanent resident, to possess a Grade 12 diploma or equivalent, and to hold a Class G driver's licence in the province of Ontario "with full driving privileges." And "no criminal record."

Jones has been a member of the OPP for 27 years and "as corny as it sounds ... there's not a day that I haven't loved my job. The reason I joined it was really service and duty to the community."

She's hoping Aboriginal interest in OPPBound2004 will be as high as it was among women in 2003, when there were more than 2,700 applicants to the camp.

Jones said for those who were not selected to the camp they ran information sessions and made opportunities to meet with some of them personally.

"Policing isn't something you do," Jones emphasized. "It tends to be something that you live. Whether you are on duty or off duty, you are always a cop. And so it takes a different type of interest level to be a police officer."

You can download a registration form for the camp from the OPP Web site at www.opp.ca. You can also call the OPP Uniform Recruitment Unit at 1-866-393-3337 for more information.