Police academy training works hands on in Winnipeg

NorthWest Law Enforcement Academy, in Winnipeg, Manitoba, was started by Herb Stephen, former Chief of Police in the City of Winnipeg, explains Stan Payne, Managing Director and Registrar, "Former Police Chief Stephen found candidates for recruitment were not well prepared to make application for duty, and no opportunities existed for them to seek out an education for a career in law enforcement," and that's when Stephen formed NWLEA ten years ago.

"We have put through 500 students in the past ten years, graduating from a seven-month program that is approved by the Department of Advanced Education in the Province of Manitoba," operating under the Private Vocational Institution's Act, says Payne. "Courses are taught by former law enforcement officers in classes running five hours per day, three intakes per year, including April, September, and October."

All three intakes per year contain the same curriculum. April and September intakes are morning classes from 8 a.m. to 1 p.m., and the October intake runs classes from 1 p.m. to 6 p.m.. Students come from across Canada from Newfoundland to Vancouver. The majority are from Manitoba.

Stephen's academy went to police agencies with inquires about putting together a curriculum based on the growing demand for trained candidate-recruits. "This seven-month post-secondary program carries no guarantees of hiring for law enforcement duty, however, recruitment and hiring occurs in municipal police services, RCMP, Corrections Canada, and Border Services, and Sheriffs offices across the country."

The academy works a lot in First Nation and Aboriginal recruitment, "We usually average two Aboriginal students per class, at least six graduating per year. Students across the board come from both genders, although 80 percent are male and 20 percent are female." Payne says the average age of recruits has been increasing in the past two years. "It was average age 19 up until two years ago. Now we are seeing 24 to 30 year old recruits."

The staff complement at NWLEA is made up of teacher/instructors who have retired from police agencies in Winnipeg, or England, or the RCMP, Corrections Canada, or Border Services. The student who is accepted into the program pays a fee of $7815.00, all-inclusive, with registration uniform, text books, and tuition.

Payne says, "We take individuals up to a week before each course. They must have grade 12, good physical health, no criminal record, and go through our screening process, including four essays that are written during the process, and an in-depth interview." They are screened with two references, a medical examination, and a criminal record check.

Payne notes, "First Nations are often Band-funded into the Law Protections and Safety Diploma training program. They may proceed to recruitment in Aboriginal policing units or may be trained for employment in outside agencies, security services, government agencies, and individual Bands. Other employment is found in Manitoba government agencies. Most of our Aboriginal candidates are from Ontario and Manitoba. We also customize courses that meet specific requirements." A current website takes applications electronically, and international students have come to the academy in the past, "but visas are a difficulty."

Eight shareholders own the academy that is run by a board of directors, "Things are looking well, we have had success thus far. Our September class is expected to be full. We are effective but our teachers make it clear that this is not a replacement for recruit training." Even so, the curriculum is detailed and hands on in role-playing. Self-defense and martial arts techniques are also taught in the program.

The academy teaches through three basic curriculum streams, including: 1. Law, Protection and Safety Diploma Program; 2. The Certificate Programs were created for those individuals seeking a career in Law Enforcement who: are not planning to complete a diploma program; do not plan to complete a diploma program immediately; want training is specific areas of law enforcement;  3. Aboriginal Police Training; 4. Professional training for government agencies, and private companies also available on-demand.

Payne says, "First Nations and Metis communities bear the brunt of Canada's rising crime rate and it is apparent to community leaders that provincial and federal governments cannot provide them with the protection and security they need and deserve." Payne says, "As Aboriginal communities move closer and closer to true self-government, providing protection and safety to community members will become a top priority. Without security of the people within a community, there can be no effective government."

This program is designed, he says, "to help meet the needs of the Aboriginal community. Northwest Law Enforcement Academy has developed Band Constable Training - Level One, Level Two, Level Three, plus Community Police Training, and Police Commission Training."

How Vince Li Permanently Altered Greyhound to Higher Security

RIP Tim McLean 

Bus travel is safe today and gone are the free-wheeling days of drunken riders or drug-crazed passengers harassing everybody in their travels between towns and bus depots in Canada. This happy alteration in the travel situation came about from a terribly tragic event in 2008. It happened due to the murder of Tim McLean on a Greyhound Bus, and when it happened (Jul 30, the night of) it was because Vince Li went nuts.

He murdered Tim McLean on the bus as it rolled east toward Portage La Prairie, Manitoba, destination Winnipeg, laden with passengers. It was a gruesome event that dozens witnessed, and today the security system on a bus ride through Western Canada is intense. Everybody who rides a bus is watched and eye contact is purposely made by every security person working in the area with passengers all around the terminals before boarding. Every carry-on bag is searched at every depot and everybody is observed in boarding procedures usually by a minimum two security guards.

Security conducts a `wand sweep`for metal objects (the massacre of Tim McLean was done with a large bladed knife). Unchecked carry-on bags are searched to satisfy a zero-tolerance policy on alcohol and drugs. Automatic 24-hour bans on travel are imposed by Greyhound Canada for any contraventions and police are called immediately to intervene if there is the slightest objection, but everybody is amply warned in advance. The entire property under Greyhound Canada supervision is patrolled by security squads at every major depot.

While Vince Li conducted his mayhem after boarding at a rural location, Erickson, Manitoba, he started his summer sojourn of the macabre from Edmonton. He disembarked and spent two nights sulking on the beach (so he was perhaps familiar with the area after living in Winnipeg), then re-boarded and sat forward on the bus. Shortly thereafter he moved to the rear. He was sitting beside a sleeping McLean until his psychotic self began the methodical attack. At any rate, today. two years hence, most drivers refuse to speak to passengers. There is very little talk amongst passengers either.

There is an immense amount of tension around the process of bus travel, much 

like air travel (or those who face the gasoline bills in cross-country automobile travel for that matter). Bus travel in the Canadian west has become eerie and has a haunting quality due to the nightmarish spectre of the event that began with a reign of stabbings and turned surreal with evisceration, trophy taking (ears and nose found in perpetrators pockets), and cannibalism. The eeriness is related to what Vince Li said when they were coaxing him out of the bus. He said,”I am staying on the bus forever.”

Vince Li said so as they were leading his blood-splattered and soaked self off the bus. He is incarcerated under mental health provisions in a forensic ward of a mental institution in Manitoba. In mid 2010 the institute applied to the courts to allow him a 15-minute walk each day around a secure outdoor compound duly under escort. The McLean family attended the hearing and strenuously protested the inmate`s access to daylight.

Vince Li is staying on the bus, perhaps not forever, but certainly well past the date on his ticket if only because it seems to be Vince Li haunting every bus from Vancouver to Sudbury, Ontario. Vince Li rides them all over Western Canada with passengers on Greyhound Canada but mainly his routes are found from Calgary and Edmonton to Winnipeg. He appears he stops haunting the buses by North Bay but that is a long way and a lot of haunting on a lot of buses. And that it is Vince Li doing the haunting is the odd thing because he`s alive and Tim McLean is the guy who died.

In many ways bus travel is much safer and more predictable than it used to be. In other ways the ride has become even more stultifying than it ever was and customers are dealing with endless numbers of marginally courteous authorities who are panicking about every face they see. It is safer, and the driver at the scene of MacLean's murder has finally returned to duty. It has been over two years but the system remains severely traumatized about the event, and the travel situation is permanently altered to a higher degree of personal security for everybody engaged in the pursuit.