RCMP Deputy Commissioner Bev Busson and UCFV President Dr. Skip Bassford have signed an agreement for the UCFV bachelor’s degree in police studies

The Abbotsford Police Department has several extra sets of eyes watching the community. University College of the Fraser Valley and the Abbotsford police celebrated the graduation of 13 reserve constables last Wednesday.

 

The reserve officers — all UCFV students — will work as extra eyes and ears as they join police officers at a number of community events, where a police presence is always welcomed.

 

Constable Denys Scully, program coordinator, explains that UCFV and the police have a partnership that is unique in Canada. The students attend training classes at UCFV’s School of Criminology and Criminal Justice. Abbotsford Police Sergeant and UCFV adjunct faculty member Mike Novakowski is responsible for teaching the text book and theory training. The students get coached through physical training and drill exercises by Scully.

The training is six months long — more than 150 hours of evening sessions — and most of the students balance the hours with part-time jobs and other university classes. “It is quite a commitment,” says Kato Atebe, a 21-year-old Mission resident who is a full-time criminology student at  UCFV. “It’s been a big, big work load, but it has all been worth it. And it’s going to work out nicely for me because I can count this training as my practicum for my crime studies.”

Atebe, who hopes to be a police officer, says the reserve training has given him a better understanding of the day-to-day operations of policing, and confirmed that he has made the right career choice.Atebe has one semester of full-time studies to complete his degree, and now has a two-year commitment to volunteer as a reserve constable with the Abbotsford police.

Reserve constables carry a badge but are not assigned weapons. When not doing public relations and crime prevention education at special events such as Berry Fest, Agrifair and Airshow, the reserve constables perform traffic duties and work with community-based crime prevention initiatives such as Block Watch, Graffiti Task Force, Speed Watch and Crime-Free Multi-Housing. They also help police officers working with youth and children in local schools and in the community.

“This is a really good opportunity for us as we’re working out in the community with the police and the public,” Atebe says. “We’ll do a lot of liaison work for the police and we’ll represent them at major events — we’ll do some of the talking and community relations work that they don’t always have time to do because they’re so busy with operational duties.”

The newly-minted reserve constables will be identifiable by the red stripe on their uniform trousers as opposed to the blue stripe of regular officers. They have limited peace officer status, and the hours they put in are on a volunteer basis.

Jennifer Witt, who graduated on Wednesday, is pretty sure she wants to be a full-time police officer. She is happy to have an opportunity to “try out” the job while she works as a reserve constable for the next two years. Witt has taken a number of crime courses at UCFV, but is taking a year off while she juggles several part-time jobs and her reserve training.

“I wanted to try out this program to make sure policing is something I want to do for a living,” explains the 20-year-old Abbotsford resident. “I can now be a volunteer reserve, learn first-hand what it’s like to be a peace officer, and also get some experience.”

This is the second group of reserve constables to graduate from the program. Two years ago, 18 students completed the inaugural program. Eight remain as reserve constables and four have been hired as police officers.Witt is hoping this is a huge leap towards making her dream of becoming an officer come true.

“I have really enjoyed this training. It has been such a great experience,” she says.
Novakowski says the payback is reciprocal, as the police force winds up with people who are committed to being officers. “Abby PD has a long-standing working relationship with UCFV and the reserve program only adds to this.”