They are Grey Cup Champions, single moms and educational assistants. There is a four time Brazilian Jujitsu Champion, a competitive Nordic skier and a service industry worker so moved he created a program to feed the homeless. Now they have one big thing in common, they will all soon be sworn in as Ottawa Police officers.
“Not everyone can be a police officer but the ones who do want to, it’s a calling,” says 28-year Ottawa Police veteran Sgt. Maria Keen. Keen is part of the Ottawa Police Recruiting Team: their job, to sift through hundreds of applications, fitness and psychological tests to find the best of the best when it comes to policing.
“This is a job where you need life experience but we have 21 year olds that have this and then we have 39 year olds who have that,” says Keen.
“We look at what they’ve contributed, what they’ve done in the community, out of the box thinking that’s out of their comfort zone.”
The recruitment process can take months or even more than a year. Police Chief Peter Sloly has the final say about who makes the cut. In the last year, 100 new officers have been hired, kicking off the goal of 500 new officers in five years. 12 were announced this month as the “class of December”. It means they will begin training next month, enter Ontario Police College in January and will start patrol in late spring of 2020.
But it’s how these new officers are being told “you’re hired” that’s incredible and even a little emotional. You can watch their “jobposals” here:
