Dear Sir:
With the news lately containing the negative actions of RCMP members, perhaps it is also time to look at why a person actually wants to join the RCMP.
Every year many men and women aspire to become a Mountie, many apply but not all are accepted. The person that applies is usually upstanding, honest and wants nothing more than to help people of Canada live their lives in law and order.
The person attends months of hard learning, both in classrooms and in physical fitness. The person becomes very well trained in the sharp learning curve.
Then the person graduates and is assigned to one of many detachments anywhere in Canada. The real world turns out to be quite hard on newly minted Mounties and they learn quickly that not everybody likes them. Most people don’t like to be corrected by the Mountie working to maintain law and order. In order to preserve some morale for themselves and the persons they work with, they must have quite a thick skin.
In detachments everywhere, there are dedicated Mounties of every rank who need some positive feelings from the general public.
As well as pointing out faults, we must also build up the public’s relationship with the RCMP. ‘Law and order’ is what we all want in life isn’t it? The folks at our local detachment are there trying to maintain it for us, let’s give them our support.
Bill Braam,
Terrace B.C.