Recruiting for the Grande Prairie Police Service continued throughout the first quarter of the new year and with deadlines fast approaching, close to 140 applicants have been sent to the GPPS.
Greg Redl, a Superintendent for the GPPS says work is currently underway to vet candidates and such a large pool to choose from gives the police service the chance to pick the best candidates possible.
“It’s a very good sign,” he says. “I’d say we’re very well positioned to get enough quality applicants for our first recruit class, I couldn’t be happier with the reaction we’ve had from the local community.”
In addition to new recruits, GPPS representatives have said the agency is seeing an uptick in interest from experienced officers from around the country. Redl says the first officers in GPPS uniforms, members of the public will interact with will be these experienced officers and May 27th will mark the beginning of the first experienced officer training program.
“It was a little bit slow to start with what’s going on nationally with respect to some cities moving to municipal police agencies, I think there was some hesitation, some concern that maybe this wouldn’t proceed but as people have seen, the dedication and the hard work we’ve put into this, and the very positive direction we’re going with recruiting, that’s been ticking up and I’m really happy about that,” he says.
Redl adds that experienced officers will go through a five-week training program at local venues in Grande Prairie to ensure they are physically and mentally prepared to hit the streets this Fall.
“Because they are already trained through a police academy somewhere else in Canada, the course is not as long,” he says.
As the recruiting process for experienced officers comes to a close in April, Redl says further advancements are being made, and residents can expect to see a GPPS vehicle on the streets “within the coming weeks.”
“I’m really excited to see that, it’s really a physical representation that we exist, that we’re here, that we’re starting this large journey to start protecting and policing the people of Grande Prairie,” he says. “I would say within the coming weeks you’ll see a Grande Prairie Police Service vehicle in town so make sure to wave.”
The first batch of recruitment comes to a close on March 15th, and interested applicants can apply on the GPPS website.