3311 replies to this topic

[todd]

That’s weird.

Edited by todd, 21 August 2022 - 06:53 PM.

[pontcanna]

RCMP reports trouble recruiting for police forces on Vancouver Island and across Canada

RCMP detachments across Vancouver Island and the rest of B.C. are grappling with a serious shortage of police officers.

“I would hesitate to guess that there would be any that would be full. So whether it’s Comox Valley or Nanaimo there are going to be a number of vacancies soft and hard in all of them,” said Rob Farrer, National Police Federation director for the Pacific/North Region.

Hard vacancies are described as positions that are unfilled while soft vacancies are when officers are off with injuries or maternity leave as examples.

The RCMP training depot in Regina was essentially closed for two years during COVID and it could take a lot longer to catch up.

“So now it’s trying to ramp back up and catch up and it’s hard to keep up when attrition was already at the same point as recruiting and the second part is recruiting itself is more challenging,” added Farrer.

The job itself is a lot more complex than it used to be and negative sentiment toward police driven recently by the “defund police” movement, primarily in the U.S. has negatively impacted the number of people wanting to enter policing.

It’s a problem Nanaimo Mayor Leonard Krog knows all too well as he is in regular contact with leaders at the local detachment.

Nanaimo has budgeted for four more bike patrol officers for the downtown but can’t fill them.
 

More: https://www.cheknews...canada-1080612/

 

[Matt R.]

Major police presence today on SSI. Helicopter, armoured vehicle, big convoy. Details to come!

[lanforod]

Major police presence today on SSI. Helicopter, armoured vehicle, big convoy. Details to come!

 

They finally caught up to ya, eh?

[Matt R.]

I was in Victoria getting ripped off by a jeweller today, I have an alibi.

[Barrrister]

Waiting to hear about what went down?

[Matt R.]

Apparently it’s pretty common. Took my wedding band in to get sized, picked it up and wouldn’t ya know it, the single inset diamond was gone, the hole filled and polished over. There was only one stone, so pretty easy to notice missing. The owners swore up and down there was no stone, impossible. I’ve been married 20 years, the stone was from a family ring that was split up and the stones put into other jewelry so I’m pretty familiar with it by now.

Very small, probably only a couple hundred bucks of value, but impossible to replace.

Yes, saanich police have a file open, and no I don’t expect any thjng to happen so I’m calling out the place every chance I get.

Either the stone fell out accidentally during the work and they covered it up and denied it, or they flat out stole it. One of the two. Based on their Google reviews, I’m leaning one way and not the other.

Picked up more canola at the store too, thanks truckers!

[Matt R.]

… also waiting to hear about the police incident.

[Mike K.]

Wow, Matt. Are there no pictures of the ring?

What an awful thing. You bring in something so sentimental and you get robbed.

[Matt R.]

There are photos of me with it on but not good enough to spot the tiny stone.  We don't really have much in the way of "valuables" but do have a few photos of things for insurance purposes, never thought to document the wedding band I never take off, it's irreplaceable anyways.

 

Never too old to learn the hard lessons I guess.

[Matt R.]

… also waiting to hear about the police incident.

 

Details are emerging, the person in question is posting to FB today and not in jail so it's safe to assume it was a nothingburger.  Not for him and his family, obviously, but clearly nothing was found to keep him in jail even overnight.  Suspected 'swatting' by a disgruntled family member.

[lanforod]

There are photos of me with it on but not good enough to spot the tiny stone.  We don't really have much in the way of "valuables" but do have a few photos of things for insurance purposes, never thought to document the wedding band I never take off, it's irreplaceable anyways.

 

Never too old to learn the hard lessons I guess.

 

I saw the reddit thread. Sorry mate. I'll avoid the place.

[pontcanna]

Less effective police and a less safe community

Now that I am retired from my 28-year career as Crown counsel, of which the past five years were spent in Victoria, I can candidly attest to the systemically compromised nature of law enforcement in the Greater Victoria area.

I know of numerous investigations of cross-jurisdictional crimes, some of which were serious and/or complex, which did not result in charges being laid because of investigational flaws caused by poor communication between police forces, inconsistent investigative procedures or inadequate expertise in specialized areas, such as commercial crime or cyber crime.

These systemic flaws cannot be addressed by the formation of yet another “integrated team.”

Individual communities want their own police forces so they can direct law enforcement to their particular needs, a legitimate wish, but one that is eclipsed, I think, by the needs of the region as a whole and each individual residing in it.

Offenders, on the other hand, have in many cases “got away with it.” A less splintered approach would likely have had a different result.

Liane O’Grady, Victoria


A fine time to talk about regional policing

The decision by Esquimalt council to withdraw from the joint policing arrangement with the City of Victoria offers the region a rare opportunity to establish a police service for Greater Victoria.

It’s currently a patchwork of mainly small municipal forces with the federal RCMP added in to provide policing for the region.

There is a huge opportunity now for the provincial government, supported by these same municipalities, to seize the nettle and create a Greater Victoria Police Service worthy of the name and resourced at a level that can cope with the growing challenges we face.

David Collins, Victoria

 

More: https://www.timescol...ouncil-5733488

[Victoria Watcher]

Oak Bay’s newest officers came as a couple and join a former coworker on the police department.

 

 

Const. Cheryl Goard and Const. Adam Goard previously worked alongside Oak Bay Const. Kristin Stuart at the York Regional Police.

 

As they did in York, the officers do not work the same shift. In Ontario, the matching name bars came up on occasion where shifts overlapped at a scene. People would ask if they were siblings, Adam said with a laugh. They would imply that was the case and leave it at that.

 

 

 

 

https://www.vicnews....-share-a-shift/

 

 

 

Would any "normal" HR department ever hire spouses together?  Especially in the same job, in a small department?   Seems odd.

 

It also seems odd they would want to work opposite shifts.  

 

No sure what the shifts are, but OB police only has about 21 officers.  So I presume some of the slowest shifts they only have 2-4 officers on shift.

 

But if we consider that the average workweek is 40 hours, and most people sleep about 48 hours a week.  That's 88 hours a week.  So of the 168 hours in a  week, one or the other is working 80 of those hours.  So now we have 88 hours left.  48 of which they will be sleeping.  So now they have 40 hours left each week together, if they can somehow sleep the same hours (not likely).  Seems odd again.

Edited by Victoria Watcher, 25 August 2022 - 09:15 AM.

[todd]

Can you discriminate against two qualified applicants for being married? I’ve worked with married couples (HR/union hired) they worked well together. have heard horror stories about couples in the workplace

Edited by todd, 25 August 2022 - 02:51 PM.

[Victoria Watcher]

It’s hard to imagine they were both the most qualified applicants - and they had a friend on the force.

Edited by Victoria Watcher, 25 August 2022 - 03:06 PM.

[todd]

Might work better, the other spouse will know on the next shift what they did wrong

[Matt R.]

We absolutely do not hire couples. Nightmare.

[todd]

Couples are like any employee, some are good and some are bad.



Only 50% of marriages end in divorce

Edited by todd, 25 August 2022 - 06:42 PM.

[Victoria Watcher]

But every couple you do not hire is not an issue.

Like I say, no HR department would ever do it. Not that I think highly of HR.

Edited by Victoria Watcher, 25 August 2022 - 06:43 PM.