Royal Security

I have been up and glued to my television since 3:30 a.m. I am a fan of the Royal Family and proud that Canada is part of the British Commonwealth so I could not resist watching.

It was a spectacular, and historic, event. But as I sat watching TV, surfing from channel to channel, I began to hear commentary of another historic proportion. 5,000 police officers were present for this event (many will still be on duty for many more long hours). Newscasters were using language like "professional", "monumental", "historic proportions" as the police on scene around London ensured the safety of the crowd, guests and the Royal Family.

One of the most amazing sites to see was the thin blue line of police officers leading the massive crowd toward Buckingham Palace. As the crowd neared the circle in front of the palace, that think blue line split with military precision and led the crowd calmly around and in toward the palace gates. It made me proud to be a police officer and hear one of Canada's top news person, Lisa LaFlamme, make special note of this.

It made me proud to be a police officer, knowing that their work did not go unnoticed. Well done to all of our British friends for a spectacular display of policing.

Unity Through a Critical Incident

The sad reality of police work is that we face injury and harm every day. None of us truly knows what each day will bring our way. The paradoxical reality of police work is that officers seize every opportunity to learn from each incident where we have faced harm or injury in order improve our tactics and mental preparedness for the after shock of it. That is the is the reality of learning from Critical Incident debriefings and Critical Incident Analysis. And that was the central discussion at the 8th Annual Winnipeg Police Service Policewomen's Network Conference. Constable Tammy Friestleben of the Minneapolis Police Department started the day off by describing her involvement in a police involved shooting in 2002. Tammy survived the shooting but another officer, Melissa Schimdt was fatally wounded. Several officers from the Winnipeg Police Service heard Tammy tell her story this past year at the 2010 IAWP Conference in Minneapolis and recommended Tammy as a speaker for this year's agenda in Winnipeg. Police involved shootings are less frequent in Canada than the United States, and police shootings involving a female are even more rare. Tammy's willingness to tell her story provided valuable insight and lessons for the 100 policewomen who attended. Also on the agenda this year were Sergeant Lisa Mandziak and Constable Belinda Duncan of the Winnipeg Police Service. Nearly ten ago, Lisa was acting the capacity of a Field Training Officer in the downtown division of Winnipeg. Along with her new recruit, Belinda, who was only into day 5 on the street, Lisa attended what she described as a typical domestic violence call. While the two officers began to take statements from the female victim and her new boyfriend, the ex boyfriend returned to the scene and attacked Lisa with a metal car club. Lisa was injured but struggled with the suspect. Belinda reacted immediately and eventually with the assistance of the two original victims, subdued the suspect and summoned backup. Both officers described how this experience helped them prove to themselves that could handle a critical incident. And, both have used the experience to train and mentor other officers on how to cope with the everyday reality of violence in our workplace. Lisa and Belinda's presentation tied in with a discussion with Monika Dyck of the Victim Services Unit, Manitoba Justice. Lisa's case was about to go to a plea bargain with the suspect when word of that deal made it's way back to the investigating officers. In response to concerns that this could have happened and the victim, in this case a police officer, was not even notified, Manitoba Justice amended the Victim Bill of Rights. Ms. Dyck explained that now, police officers in Manitoba can register as victims and will be updated on a regular and ongoing basis about the status of their case. Constable Jennifer McKinnon of the Winnipeg Police Service Forensic Identification Section also spoke at the conference. She described the procedures that are used to collect evidence from officers when they are involved in a critical incident. And finally the day was capped off with a presentation by Patrol Sergeant Ron Bilton of the Behavioural Health Unit who reinforced the necessity to use the experience of other officers to learn and improve our own capacity, both physically and mentally. Congratulations to the Policewomen's Network for another successful conference.