RCMP Auxiliary Ride Alongs, a thing of the past
(at right, the hat worn by Auxiliary Constables-photo 250News archive)
The new direction follows a review of auxiliary service in the wake of the attack on Parliament Hill in 2014, and the 2015 incident in St. Albert Alberta where an RCMP Constable was fatally shot and his ride along Auxiliary Constable was wounded.
There are 16 Auxiliary Constables in Prince George, who, acting under the supervision of an RCMP member, assist in Community Policing, community events, traffic control, crime prevention activities within schools, parades and other ceremonial events.
The Auxiliary Constable program was started in 1963 in Canada. As full Peace Officers, an Auxiliary member can do anything a regular police officer does, except, they have to be directed to take the action and they can no longer ride along with an officer. They do not carry firearms, but are equipped with uniform, radio, gloves, baton, pepper spray a flashlight and two sets of handcuffs.
Their role is viewed by the RCMP as one that complements the RCMP, and is not meant to augment or bolster a detachment’s number of officers.
Comments
A step backwards in my opinion.
These people are a valuable assets to policing yet governments spend more time looking for ways to make an officers job just that much harder to do.
Auxiliary police know the risks of wearing the uniform and the risks of the job and choose to accept those risks when they put it on why slap them in the face again with silly bigger politics
Think you’ll find this is all about a volunteer’s safety. They are not armed, so get them out of the firing line.
They are a great support for other venues and I appreciate the work they do.
A total b.s. backward step.
I’ll bet that lawyers (because of perceived liability) had everything to do with this directive.
I second the notion that auxiliary members know the dangers inherent in their voluntary duties and accept the risks.
metalman.
I know several people who have worked and are working as Auxiliary constables and I work with one of them in their regular job and the one common theme is ever since the Provincial government took away their service pistols and been given more and more restrictions many have become very disillusioned. For many it was a way of helping the community and helping the regular full time police keep out on the streets and doing less paperwork but now the regular police are doing more paperwork and less policing and the auxiliaries are just there for looks.
My guess is if you get rid of the auxiliaries you then have a better argument for getting more police.
Some people are beginning to think that Prince George needs to look at a Municipal Police force.
Dearth nailed it.
There was a huge exodus of AC when they took away the service pistols.
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