Rolling Across the Prairies: August 11 – 20, 2024
Across the Prairies: August 11-August 20, 2024
I woke up on August 11 from my looping rest stop roosting place, had a short picnic table workout, and headed east across white salt piles of Chaplin Lake from which sodium sulphate is mined. I get to Regina and have a workout at Planet Fitness, before hitting a local laundromat and retiring in a parking lot at the south side of Murray Balfour Arena. In the morning, I met with Cory LERAT, Chris DESAUTERS, and curriculum designer Jody BRAY at the Saskatchewan Police College. We talk about training challenges: They feel that the training must be 1) easy to deliver, 2) easy to learn, 3) retainable (all skills are perishable), and 4) effective (fine motor skills are not readily available under high stress). What is the value of training hours, and are the techniques lawful and within the departmental policy? I always hold that the Criminal Code supersedes any departmental policy regarding life-and-death situations. It’s no big deal if you violate a departmental policy (with the concomitant slap on the wrist), but you must use any force, especially deadly force, in accordance with the law, meaning that force must be proportionate, reasonable, and necessary. If the use of force is justifiable, it must be clearly articulated as such. During training, recruits receive a quick debriefing after encountering use-of-force scenarios. They are commonly asked questions like, “What did you see? What did you do, and why did you do it?” It is essential to provide sufficient detail in use-of-force reports; otherwise, the gaps may be filled in by others, often to the disadvantage of the officers involved. It is heartening to note that more than eighty hours are provided in defensive tactics training. Still, this is not nearly enough to deal with the situations that officers must deal with on a daily basis. It has been recognized that “punching people into handcuffs” is not an effective strategy. The former situation often follows the failure to “control” an arrestee, as opposed to merely “holding” him, which merely invites resistance.
Corey further explains that teaching recruits too many techniques (“killing them by volume”) especially while yelling and berating them, is not advisable. He advised me that the RCMP use a 3-D virtual simulator (which I later experienced at the Atlantic Police College) to improve decision-making skills. We briefly watched some recruit training and talked more about training and his desire to build a purpose-built police training facility.
I met a very helpful and connected Tracey DUNNIGAN at Starbucks. She showed me around Regina (she is an ex-Regina Police Service member) and set me up for two nights at her Air BnB. I gave her a few challenge coins (while she gave me a whole set of NHL hockey team coins!).
I went for a ride-along with Cst. Craig Solomon, and of course, there were no calls on the board city-wide. The “curse of the ride-along continues”! Municipalities should start paying me to keep the crime rates at all-time lows.
On August 14, I drove to Saskatoon, where I met a host of friendly officers from the Saskatoon Police Service, including Insp. Lisa HOWASAD, Cst. Rick ERICKSON, and S/Sgt. Fred SIEMENS. I attended a few drug-related calls with Rick before retiring to my usual Chateaux de Walmart parking lot for a night’s sleep after watching some internet stuff using the Walmart Wi-Fi signal. I keep in contact with friends around the world using WhatsApp. This strips some of the loneliness from my nightly retreats in the back of my SUV.
The next day, I continued driving east to Yorkton, Saskatchewan and tried the Anytime Fitness facility (no lockers and only a few, albeit private, shower rooms). I like the Planet Fitness setup better, so I vow to get a membership when I arrive in Winnipeg. Toby sends me an audiobook e-book suggestion “The Comfort Crisis” by Michael EASTER. In it, the author talks about the Japanese concept of “misogi” (a hard, unusual, inward-facing challenge with no guarantee of success). In some ways (not physical), this is part of my own mental/emotional/spiritual quest. Easter suggests that loneliness can be regarded as “rich solitude”. I remember my 5 months in total, living in a tent in the Ram River Plateau in the mid-70s (3 field seasons with McMaster University’s Geography Department). No radio contact with the outside world, no music, no structural respite from the summer heat and rain, frigid spring weather with its snow and sleet, and the plethora of bugs. I’d dream of walking on a paved surface or of eating fresh food. Success in these ventures was guaranteed, but the experiences helped shape my young character, nonetheless. My current quest is shaping this old boy’s character into yet another version of this early self…
I sleep next to a field full of mosquitoes, and once again, I quick-dive into my abode and wheels. I finally hear from the Winnipeg police. I roll into town and sign up for a Planet Fitness membership ($29.00/month for a Black Card, which gives me access to their massage beds and chairs). I appreciate having a workout and a place to shower after a long day’s drive. It’s now my home away from home. Many of these facilities are paired with Walmarts, so I am set!
Over the next few days of waiting to hear from the Winnipeg Police Service, I treat myself to another workout, a pedicure, a massage, and a theatre movie (“Alien: Romulus”). I work on my Alaska blog (my Instagram video log is pathetically behind, but I still keep shooting updates). I am the Trailing Tactical Trainer. I lost one whole blog entry somehow…I hate doing things twice!
Finally, on August 20, I went to the WPS HQ and met with Nadine BERZENJI. Sgt. Adam HOURD gave me a tour of the jail, then went for a day shift ride-along with A/Sgt. Evan STOROZINSKI (and later with Sgt. Rob RENTZ). A total of 1,500 officers police Winnipeg (population 776,000) by taking 1,500 calls daily. I watched a man bleed out on the street following a fatal stab wound to the neck. They say Winnipeg is “a bit stabby”. No kidding…our Skid Road is the same.
On the way out of town the next day, I met with Jeff QUAIL from Setcan (setcan.com), a police training gear supplier and training certification provider. I noticed their training products, such as the Shocknife and Stressvest, everywhere I went. They are the largest company in this industry. I also gave him a copy of my book, our challenge coin, and Police Judo luggage tag—he seemed to appreciate the gesture (as I carried so few copies of the book with me), as he bought me Tim Hortons treats. Like me, he teaches by principle rather than by technique. We part each other’s company, and I head for the Ontario border.
