Comm

Policing in Ontario is a VERY high paying and lucrative career and job. Guarntee you ask half the cops here what the real reason is for becoming a Police Officer, they'll answer one of three reasons 1.) Job Security, 2.) Pay, 3.) Benefits. Very few officers will answer because it's something that they've always wanted to do or because it's something of a noble job or calling, it's funny because at the recruiting stands and booths the first question out of most people's mouths are "Whats the starting salary of a cop?". I've used the US system as a baseline and sometimes I'll ask, "so if we only paid 45-50K a year would you still be a cop?" the answer that I get is "No, because I can make more money doing something else". Starting Constable makes 55K base, but within 4 years that base jumps to about 65-75K easy. Add in over time, Paid Duties, Call Backs and your banking close to about 90-100K; As I mentioned if you take a look at the list the province discloses every year of public service employees who make 100K+ more than half the list are patrol officers, traffic officers and seasoned Detectives.

I can only speak from where I live; A senior officer once told me that 75% of cops (in my city) only do the job because of the money, power, a gun and a badge; 15% because they have nothing else better to do or it's a second career; 10% because they actually want to help people and are passionate about what they do. Yes part of the problem is the media but a huge part of the problem is the type of personalities that are given such power and authority. That's something I would have to disagree on; Like I said I can only speak from where I live, maybe it's different in your part of the world. Unfortunately too many people are power hungry; the only reason why I still do what I do is because I've always believed in helping others. Your father's friend is an example of what a cop SHOULD BE; one who does the job to help people and one who uses his/her power of disrection.

Before anyone gets pissed off or anything; I've worked for a large metro Police Service in Canada and still do. I believe the Police are appreciated enough or are over-appreciated; two professions that often gets over looked in the appreciation department are Paramedics and Nurses. Think about the LARGE salary differences between cops and paramedics or better yet cops and nurses. A cop can earn up to 100K+ here in my City but a Paramedic usually caps off at about 75-80. Half the "sun-shine" list in my Province are cops whilst only the top Paramedic or top nurses make 100+. Understand that in both the law enforcement profession and military you NEVER do the job for "Thank You", You do it for people who can't protect themselves, you do it to protect the innocent and so that others can enjoy whatever they do without the fear of being assaulted, shot, killed, molested or blown up. Unfortunately I see and worked with far too many police officers who wear the uniform for all the wrong reasons and expect in return everything. Your entitled to your opinion just as everyone else; and yes a lot of people do not appreciate law enforcement for a variety of reasons and I understand that. The reasons you have listed are all valid responses to what I hear on the street or in the papers here in Canada everyday, and I'll be blunt some of it I agree on and is true. But I do believe that your opinion should be created in a different post; as I would love to comment on some of the things that I have seen. I agree with a lot of your points and would like to chime in on them, however I feel as if this might be a diversion of the orginial topic. One final point is, Never Forget the Law Enforcement Officers, Paramedics, Fire Fighters, Soldiers, Sailors, Marines, Airmen, Nurses who have given up their lives to make the world a little better for everyone else.

Central Canada; South Central to be exact. That's unfortunate to hear; My Condolences. Don't let that be an excuse for not pursuing your career or dreams. It's an obstacle that you can over come; A wise man once told me that It's just a matter of time before your doing what you want to do. Like I said, Most law enforcement agency that I know aren't looking for "Perfect" candidates. Majority of people bring something that they can use to better the community they live/serve in.

No One's Perfect. Don't think they are looking for "Perfect" candidates, You honestly don't need to know anybody to get on; but I won't lie it does help if you know someone that can put in a word for you. Unfortunately you will need to complete at a minimum Grade 12 Education and either have a GED or Secondary School Diploma. Join the club, I was born and raised in the "Shooting Gallery" of Canada. I still bump into some of my old classmates and they know what side I'm on and what I do. Unfortunately I believe you have that mixed up with Post-Secondary. Law Enforcement Organizations and Generally Government Organizations dealing with National Defence, Security will assist it's members in attaining a Bachelors, Masters or PhD. I think I have an idea; Like I said I grew up in the "Shooting Gallery" of Canada.

The RCMP is a fine organization steeped in history and tradition. I've met RCMP guys who were pretty cool guys to work with whilst others were out right a** holes who though they were better than everyone else. If memory serves me right, you have to do the Written RPAB, PARE (Psyhical), Initial Interview, Pre-Psych Questionaire, Psych/Polygraph, Background Investigation. I might be missing a few things there but usually the steps are similar if not the same to other Provincial and Municipal Services. I'd suggest you'd contact an RCMP recruiter if you want to find more info. As for steps, It's difficult to judge not knowing your background (education, previous jobs etc.) All members of the RCMP have to go through the initial six month Basic Constable Training in Regina, Saskatchewan. No if's and or but's, the facility you are referring to is the regional training centre used for career progression purposes and or requalification purposes and not recruit training. You'll get three options as to which Division you would like to be posted, however like all Government jobs that entail security, law enforcement or defence your at the mercy of the organization (some posting positions have a mandatory time limit before your allowed to transfer). I've heard that the majority of new recruits are posted either to Surrey Detachment or Moncton Detachment (as they are the two largest detachments that the RCMP has).

Don't know about Southland, but since Rookie Blue is filmed in Toronto I have friends who are Toronto Cops doing paid duty try and teach the actors a thing or two. Apparently some of the actors came off as an arrogant a** about it (yes try is bolded). Similarly the actors on Flashpoint are a great bunch of people who take it upon themselves to actually sit through and learn the techniques and roles they are portraying. I'm fortunate enough to have actually met them while in uniform, great people, very modest.

That question is equivalent to which Army or Special Forces Unit is the best. Different training methods and standards across the world and as such it is impossible to distinguish what makes a Unit or Organization "The Best". In my opinion I believe if I had to choose it would be the Hong Kong Police, they are held to an extremely high standard. The incident you highlighted was a very unfortunate and mismanaged event, there was a lot of politics involved and when it became clear of the bias that the incident commander had, he should have been replaced by some one neutral. They had at their disposable an Army Special Forces Team and a Specialist Police Tactical Team whose sole job and purpose of creation were for events such as the bus incident but because of the politics and biased involved they were told to stand down. That's also a very hard question to answer because in different areas (mostly rural, small communities) support for law enforcement and military is extremely high; whereas in more metropoltian areas it's 50/50 As for the reasons why some people hate cops/military it's because over the years incidents involving police/military corruption, brutality, funding, pay issues have been in the public eye which creates an aura of distrust and disconnect between Public Service and the general public. Again it's 50/50; some view career in law enforcement or the military as a career for the uneducated high-school drop out or a person with a troubled past or a person without a future. Other's view it as a worth while and noble career with a good salary and benefits. I'm Chinese-Canadian, when I walk down the street in uniform other Asian minorities look at me with disdain and contempt while others look at me as a positive role model. Depends on people's experience with an organization.

I've heard about the change, and I can't say that I agree with the switch. I've heard that it will augment the M249 so that a rifle section will have one M27 and one M249? Correct me if I'm mistaken. I agree the problem with the Current M249 SAW is that the weight of the weapon and the weight of the ammunition one has to carry, I know I was a C-9 (Canadian M249) gunner for more than two weeks. However when rounds were put down range, I was glad that I knew I had 200 rounds to blow through instead of 30, and a well-trained gunner can make that 200 rounds last quite some time while keeping heads down. Having said that why didn't you guys adopt the paratrooper variant or cut the M249 down like we did? I'm very skeptical about having a modified assault rifle turned into a squad automatic weapon; with a heavy barrel and 30 round magazine? I mean the British tried it with their L85 LSW and that didn't last too long. Really how much sustained fire can you actually get from the M27 IAW? I've tried inserting 30 round mags into a C-9 and believe me it was annoying having to swap out mags every five to ten seconds.

I do work for an uniformed organization whose office is a portfolio of one of the Departments within the Federal Government, and I live in Ontario. I do have many friends who are/were/posted to British Columbia. Plus I'm also a Criminology student who unfortunately has had to read the Criminal Code and various acts. My job has made me very thorough about details especially about these things. The workshop provided by the RCMP is actually for government employees and agencies to learn about security measures they can use and implement in their workplace. They don't actually provide people to secure these facilities; those workshops are really dry. I should have corrected myself earlier; you are correct in that Police provide certain security options for certain areas (Mass Transit, Key Government locations etc.) but they are not a "Security Force" or "Security Police" they are still classified as Police Officers performing a law enforcement duty. The only actual organization that you can classify as a "Security Force" would be the Military Police at NDHQ in Ottawa even then they are considered a law enforcement agency with full peace officer status and not "Security" in the sense of "Private Security". Even then the majority of the actual security patrols that you have mentioned earlier are preformed by private security guards, example Union Station in Toronto is patrolled by G4S security guards whilst GO Transit platforms and stations are patrolled by Special Constables with Peace Officer Status. Private Security or Security Force generally refers to a Private Company (with no Peace Officer status) and not an actual Law Enforcement Agency. Rail Police (CPR, CN) are actually sworn peace officers under the rail act. I think that's the mix up between the two of us; I can't talk about the States but in Canada we have a pretty clear distinction. If we were to talk about Private Military Companies whole different story

They provide law enforcement services to the airport, not "security" in the sense that the OP was talking about. Airport Security is not the same as Security as we are discussing about. As for your "security force" illustration. Half correct, it is true that if a situation arises where a "surge" is needed then the RCMP will respond having said that so will us in the Military and we provide the "security force" whereas the RCMP can concentrate on law enforcement duties. Hence the military involvement in the Olympics, G-8/G20, Royal Visits etc. I would know because we've been activated quite a number of times. Private Security Companies still provide 100% of the screening of passengers as ordered by Transport Canada and NAV Canada. Correct, but you were not classifying them as such in an earlier response. In addition they also have guard the cash transfers, I would know because two of my good friends worked as armed security for a total of four years; and they always try to recruit military members. Quote "@Cp702- i don't think canada even has armed security, although being armed, the paygrade better be worth it." Hence that's why I was merely trying to correct that fact that Canada as Armed Security who work as Armoured Guards.

I should have been more clear. This is correct as citizens arrest does not constitute the same meaning as full arrest by a peace officer. I was defining two very distinct roles here in Canada. Anyone employed by a company who are authorized to cite people on private property are no longer "Security Officers" rather they are designated as "Provincial Offences Officers" which carries more responsibilities and status. Never said they were. Again you refer the RCMP as a security force, they are not a security force, they are a law enforcement organization. Security Force in Canada refers to Private Security Companies (Garda, Intelligarde etc. etc.). Two distinct roles Security Officer and Peace Officer/Special Constable Armoured Car guards are armed and they are security guards.

Those are armoured car guards which under the Private Security Act are authorized to carry firearms although they have no peace officer status whatsoever I could debate about that because PEO's do not have the same training as say Special Constables or Police Constables although they do deal with a lot of crap. Never heard of Sagittarious but Commissionaires are the only security company I know in Canada that more than 75% of it's force are former military, law enforcement or RCMP. We (Federal Government) contract the Commissionaires to provide phsyical security for all Federal owned property to include Military establishments etc. They don't have peace officer status which is funny because I have more power than they do under the Criminal Code and National Defence Act, yet they can deny me entrance to my own work place. All those companies that you just listed are Private Security companies; Canada has a stark difference, you are either considered a Peace Officer or Special Constable there is no such thing as a "Security Police" organization or force the only force that can be considered as such are the Military Police and even then they are Sworn Federal Peace Officers (as are all members of the Military). You have to be careful with those words. The RCMP provides protection to only Parliament Hill and designated Federal Officials (Prime Minister, Governor General etc.) other than that they do not provide security; Court Security is provided by Special Constables sworn through a local law enforcement agency or Sheriffs (Majority of provinces have Sheriff Services) The RCMP provides 85% of Law Enforcement Services in B.C. through a contract from the Provincial Government. Half correct; the difference is a Security Guard is not considered a Peace Officer as defined by the criminal code, they have no powers of arrest although they may detain someone, if given a Provincial Offences Officer status then they are authorized to fine and cite people on their property.

I have to chime in on this topic as there are a few interesting opinions and from a military perspective to start a war with N. Korea or China is disastrous. You understand that the US asks China for loans?, China is currently the largest shareholder of the US Treasury http://www.treasury....cuments/mfh.txt The South Koreans have more sense than to start a war based on a faulty missile launch. As Codz mentioned, the North Koreans have given them more justifiable reasons to start a war than this. cp702 has it correct, never underestimate the capabilities of their military just because they don't have the technology doesn't mean they don't have the manpower. Technology is pretty useless when you’re facing a million angry people coming your way, it's interesting because at work last night my co-workers (One of them used to be in Military Intelligence) and I were having a discussion about this (slow night in the military world), I won't post what they said, but it was interesting to say the least. From my experience, an AK47 or an RPG from twenty years ago is still effective or more capable of killing a person than a brand new HK416 or C-7 from three years ago....Just because they have systems from the cold war doesn't mean it's not effective. A knife in the hands of a child is just as effective as a knife in the hands of a man. Russia is like that quiet kid in class, never says anything much, never really does anything and you don't really know what they are up to.

Agreed; To use a line from my fellow brothers and sisters to the south (from the documentary Gunner Palace). "I don't think ... anywhere in history has someone killed someone else and something better has come out of it. It's just ... not possible." "When you sit on your couch and you watch the TV, and you go to your 9 to 5 job and you complain about the pizza being late ... there's no way you're gonna know how to live here. Someone being sympathetic to this? I don't know if I'd be sympathetic if I wasn't in the army. After you watch this, you're gonna go get your popcorn out of the microwave and talk about what I said, and you'll forget me by the end of this. Only people who remember this is us."

No one here is bashing 9/11 or saying anything bad about it. How are they pro-terrorist? They are voicing their opinions same as yourself. Everyone has the right to an opinion whether it's right or wrong; sure some opinions are absurd and far out there and although I don't agree with some's view point, still their opinion which makes it a fundamental right in the democratic world. If you really think, wiping the middle east is the best solution then we might as well wipe off North America and Europe for creating such organizations as Al-Qaeda. Remember NATO supported, trained and armed the very people we are fighting today, back in the 80's when the enemy was the Soviet Union. The enemy of my enemy is my friend...... In addition the majority of the populace who reside in the Middle East (Afghanistan seems to be the major issue in this thread) are innocent and although they don't like Western influences they hate terrorists even more and that is a fact. I hate terrorists just as much as the next person and want nothing more for them to burn; but to say we should wipe off entire countries and continents?

Being in the military means protecting the innocent and safeguarding the helpless not killing every living thing in a five km radius just because we took RPG fire. I don't know about you, but I took an oath to protect innocent civilians; not kill them. Last I checked, they hated the Taliban and Insurgents as well. We are constantly updating our manuals, procedures and drills to counter-act IED's. The unfortunate part is, they find new ways to detonate/activate these devices and they find new materials to create and build these explosive devices. Whoever decided it was a good idea to build an IED with a cellphone or pop can, I hope they died of their own invention.

Unorganized? You clearly do not know what you are talking about. I can go on for hours about the IED Cell network and how complex it is, not to mention the organizational structure of groups like Al Qaeda and their cell infastructure. Simple, we follow the Geneva conventions; they don't this is what distinguishes us from them. We don't advocate nor do we condone attacks against civilians. No we don't, this isn't 1990's Bosnia or Rwanda. We have been trained to engage active threats.

If you read into the 9/11 investigation it was noted that there were warning signs and red flags that an attack on the US was imminent. Intelligence agencies had forewarned both the Bush and Clinton administration that attacks were possible however due to "institutional" failings (mainly internal measuring contests, government politics) such attacks were deemed not possible or impossible. Also keep in mind that prior to 9/11, terrorism existed and that the threats against Western countries was and still is existent. If I learned anything in my six years in the Army, it's never underestimate your enemy EVER, doesn't matter if there some poor third world, poverty stricken, rag wearing non-educated person; if they have a means they will find a way. That is exactly the mentality that has not only been shown in this thread but by the majority of non-military members that I meet and talk to. Unfortunately we will never win against Terrorism ever. Terrorism has existed and will exist for some time, as long as you have two different opinions there will always be war and terrorism and this isn't me being a defeatist, it's reality. I agree with wmai20, I don't want to have to go to another funeral or see my friends and co-workers battle PTSD and suicidal thoughts because of what he has seen. I'm curious besides wmai20 and I, who else is military?

CHIMO! As the sir said, I joined and still continue to serve because no child should have to live in fear period. I do have my own personal feelings and opinions but that gets dropped when the phone rings and bullets start flying. Sir, You have my respect as an Army NCM/NCO in a combat arms unit. I've worked with and trained with American soldiers and Marines, again some of us have different view points but none of that mattered; we've spilled the same blood in the same mud. Btw Marines were good people even though we traded shots about the different branches. Amen to that sir; Even though I have a serious back injury it has never crossed my mind to transfer to a non-combat arms position. If my friends are taking incoming rounds so am I.

And this is the opinion of the vast majority of serving members; including myself. Unless you've seen the true horrors of warfare, been to a funeral for a colleague or friend, seen the painful recovery of your mentors and friends then war sucks period.

First, the Taliban is not a terrorist organization; the Afghan government has not put the Taliban as a terrorist organization, nor has the US, Canada, Great Britain the only country that has is Russia and they have no forces in Afghanistan at the present time. The Taliban was a government that was supported by a host of countries and put in place by guess what, Western Powers after the Russia-Afghan war of the late 80's. Now the Taliban has become a militant group that is fighting foreign oppression, similarly and ironically the American people were labelled as terrorists by the British during the American revolution, likewise I'm sure if Canada or the United States was invaded I'm sure you'll resort to the same tactics. Second, No the Taliban didn't support the attacks in NYC, Britain, France or Madrid. Should the Western Nations blow themselves up for creating and training the Taliban and Noriega? Yes the Taliban harboured them but so did Saudi Arabia; infact the majority of the attackers were Saudi's. Third, Your logic is the reason why many have negative views on Americans.

The RCMP is considered a Federal Police Force as members have jurisdiction anywhere in the country rather than the province that they police. The RCMP can also be considered a State Police, Regional Police and Municpal Police Force in certain areas

Canadian Army - Six Years Combat Engineers (CHIMO!); I would have gone to Afghanistan if I didn't injury my back in 2008.

That's why I would advise not to ask that question; It's something a lot of us don't want to remember, especially those who have suffered stress related injuries. Kind of get's annoying when all day everyday, when you get asked... "Have you shot someone?", "Have you killed someone?", "What's it like to kill someone?", "Have you gone to war?". And this is from first hand experience, being in the military and having worked with the police.