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Officer on patrol in the skies
The Record
Published: Wednesday, November 18, 2009
Const. Sean Hackman of the New Westminster Police Service knew that, at some point in his life, his work as a Brinks guard and as a park ranger would come in handy.
What Hackman didn't know was that the knowledge he gained from those jobs would lead to his current job as a tactical flight officer for the Royal Canadian Mounted Police - Lower Mainland district traffic services department.
Hackman's secondment means he works on the police helicopter, Air 1, that patrols the area from Hope to Pemberton.
"It was a long process from the application to the interview to the testing," said Hackman. "One of the hardest tests was when they tested our knowledge of Lower Mainland geography. ... My previous jobs definitely came in handy."
Hackman rattles off some of the sample rapid-fire questions he had to answer during the geography test - What's at the corner of 41st and Cambie in Vancouver? (Oakridge Mall), Where's the Seven Oaks Mall? (Abbotsford), and What are the five SkyTrain stations in New Westminster? (22nd Street, New Westminster, Columbia, Sapperton and Braid) - and you get the sense that Hackman, like all of the officers who work on Air 1, knows his stuff about the entire region.
"I used to think learning all the streets and thoroughfares when I was working for Brinks wouldn't be all that useful, but that's the sort of stuff they were testing us on," said Hackman. "And being a park ranger, you learn all the trails and you get comfortable ID'ing which wilderness areas you're in.
"You really need an excellent sense of direction and orientation as well," said Hackman. "We'd be flying over Burnaby Mountain, and they'd say, 'What direction and coordinates do you need if we had to fly to White Rock right now?' I had to be quick on my feet and not lose my sense of direction."
The pilot is normally a civilian, meaning Hackman has to be pretty self-assured in the helicopter.
"I'd love to learn how to fly myself, but I think I have my hands full with all the work I have to do," he said.
From the police helicopter, Hackman is responsible for locating persons or vehicles and subsequently observing and monitoring their activities. He's also responsible for taking control of vehicle pursuits and providing information, direction and coordination to members on the ground in order to facilitate the safe apprehension of suspects.
"That's one of the major reasons why Air 1 started," he said. "All of the local police forces wanted to find a way to stop the incidences of high-speed vehicle chases, and we can do that with Air 1."
Another of Hackman's tests was following a "suspect" from the air.
"They have an officer driving a car as if he's eluding the police," said Hackman. "I have to follow him as if I'm following a homicide suspect, and it really was as close to a real situation."
On the night Hackman did this test, weather was not his friend.
"It was the night that it felt like a summer hurricane," said Hackman. "The wind was blowing 20 knots, and it was almost so windy that we might not have even gone up. They had him driving through parks, through completely dark areas, and it was pretty hard for me to see. ...But I guess I did well enough to get the job."
In addition to knowing the geography well, some of Hackman's other duties include the operation of on-board equipment including night vision equipment, gyroscopic stabilized binoculars, digital video systems and various safety equipment.
Another consideration in getting the job - three of 70 applicants eventually got the job - is size. Because of weight restrictions on the helicopter, the officer can't be taller than 6-2 or weigh more than 220 pounds with all his equipment on.
Hackman works a four-on, four-off shift, meaning he works four straight days of 10-hour shifts. But not all that time is spent in the air, as he averages five hours of air time each shift, usually broken down into two shifts that range between two and three hours each. The helicopter is based out of the south terminal at Vancouver International Airport.
"We fly when we're needed, and the weather has to cooperate too," he said. "You just don't know from shift to shift whether you'll be following a stolen vehicle, offering support to IHIT (the Integrated Homicide Investigation Team), responding to a general duty call or taking pictures for an ongoing investigation."
His New Westminster colleagues are understandably proud of the four-year policing veteran.
"We're very happy for Sean," said Sgt. Gary Weishaar. "He went through a very tough process and came out as one of the successful applicants. He's going to do a great job."
Hackman began his full-time duties in late August and as long as there is continued funding for the Air 1 program, he expects to be doing this job for at least the next three years.
"I'm still thrilled about being chosen," he said. "There's a part of me that still doesn't believe I have this job."
© The Record (New Westminster) 2009
Originally published November 18, 2009
Consecration of New Westminster Police Service Ceremonial Flag
New Westminster Police Officer Returns from Afghanistan
Deputy Chief Constable Mike Judd has returned home to New Westminster after serving in Afghanistan for one year as a civilian police advisor in that country’s capital city of Kabul.Shortly after his arrival, Deputy Chief Judd was selected by EU Brussels headquarters to take over responsibility and direction for all EUPOL mentors in Afghanistan. During his year long assignment as EUPOL Head of Mentors Deputy Chief Judd was privileged to work with many talented and experienced senior officers from across the European policing community delivering mentoring and policing advice in several key areas of police operations. The reconstruction and professionalization of the ANP has been a key focus of the international community since the fall of the Taliban in 2001.
Deputy Chief Judd is scheduled to resume his duties with the New Westminster Police Service in mid June following his return from leave.
New Westminster Police Service 2008 annual Report
The trip of a lifetime
The Record
Published: Wednesday, February 25, 2009
Randy Gibson was enjoying his retirement in Princeton after a quarter century as a police officer when a health scare made him reassess his life.
A prostate cancer diagnosis reminded the former constable with the New Westminster Police Service, who had retired at the end of May 2005, that there were dreams unfulfilled - one of which was to visit Vimy Ridge and the battlefields of France.
"It's something I've always wanted to do," said Gibson, who said Staff Sgt. Dave Locke reminded him of that, setting the wheels in motion for the trip this past November that coincided with the 90th anniversary of the end of the First World War.
"It was absolutely wonderful," Gibson said afterwards. "I've always been interested in war history.
"I've read and read and read, and, after reading about it in books, I wanted to see the site, but I wouldn't have gone if Dave hadn't made me."
Locke explained that what ended up as seven New Westminster officers and Doug Bollman, a neighbour of Gibson's from Princeton, was dubbed the 2008 Bucket List Tour.
It was a reference to the movie The Bucket List, starring Morgan Freeman and Jack Nicholson, in which two terminally ill cancer patients try to fulfil the list of things they've always wanted to do before they "kick the bucket."
Along with Gibson, Locke and Bollman, the group consisted of sergeants Neil Collins and Stu Jette and constables Ron Bryant, Chuck Fortier and Arthur Wlodyka.
Locke and Jette had been to Vimy Ridge before, but it was a first visit for the others.
Their 12-day run through France, Belgium and the Netherlands would encompass, among a number of sites, the official remembrance ceremonies at Beaumont-Hamel on Nov. 8 and Vimy Ridge on Nov. 9.
It was the trip to Vimy Ridge - where the towering monument of stone pillars carved with figures and the names of 11,285 Canadian soldiers killed in France overlooks the Douai Plain - that meant the most to Gibson.
"The Vimy site was the most important," he said. "The monument is something everybody should see. To see it on TV or in books does not do it justice."
Collins described the monument at Vimy Ridge as "impressive. ... It was quite a tribute."
One could see its geographical importance for those fighting in the war, he said.
"You could see the entire region from that point."
What Gibson saw in France went straight to his core.
"It was heart-rending to think that men fought in that kind of environment," he said.
"Imagine they were standing in knee-deep mud, it just takes your breath away."
It was emotional for all those on the trip.
"If you don't cry when you're over in France, ... you don't have a heart beating in your chest," Locke said.
"Can you imagine fighting for four-and-a-half years in 22 square kilometres?"
"The majority of the soldiers (who died) drowned. If they were injured slightly by shrapnel, they would fall forward with 70 pounds on their back."
Fortier commented on how memorable it was to see the tunnels and trenches at Vimy Ridge where soldiers had lived and fought for months and years.
"You could only imagine what these guys went through for four years," he said, adding it was also educational.
"We tend to hear more about the Second World War than the first one. I didn't know as much about the First World War."
Collins has a personal connection to the First World War and jumped at the chance to fulfil his own dream.
"I've always wanted to go, and this was the catalyst," he said.
His great-great-uncle, whom Collins had only known while he himself was a child, had fought in the First World War with the Royal Newfoundland Regiment.
A visit to Beaumont-Hamel, near Amiens in France, would be a personal pilgrimage for Collins.
The regiment's emblem, a caribou, stands high at the memorial site in Beaumont-Hamel, which is near the front where the Battle of the Somme was fought in 1916 and commemorates all Newfoundlanders who fought in the First World War.
On the first day of the Battle of the Somme, 780 members of the Newfoundland Regiment - it didn't become "Royal" until later - fought at Beaumont-Hamel, and only 110 survived unscathed, according to Veterans Affairs Canada.
"All I could think was, these poor guys who were there fighting," Collins said afterwards of his visit to the site. "At that point, they weren't even a part of Canada, they were a British colony.
"Because Newfoundland didn't have that great of a population, World War 1 basically wiped out an entire generation. There were thousands who died there."
Many of the soldiers from Newfoundland would have hailed from poor fishing villages and found themselves a world away in the war's muddy trenches.
"They were fighting in the cold and dark in a part of the world they hadn't seen before. (The visit to the memorial) was emotionally overwhelming, that's for sure."
The timing of the trip to the battlefields was opportune.
"Going for Remembrance Day, I thought it would be a neat thing to do," Fortier said. "What happened in the First World War, I thought it would be neat to see.
"When you're in Canada, you go to the ceremonies, but you're not aware of where they fought."
The visit made one of the defining times in Canada's history come alive, Collins said.
"To see the cemeteries, the actual battlefields, the trenches where these guys fought - you've never been prouder to be a Canadian than when you've seen where they fought.
"I would go again in a heartbeat. I think every Canadian should go there and experience that part of history. They will never miss a Remembrance Day ceremony ever again."
Fortier was struck by how the countryside around the battlefields has been preserved.
"That was the big eye-opener," he said. "We have nothing to compare here in Canada."
Being there with his friends and co-workers made the trip more memorable for Gibson.
"It wouldn't have been half as good if I'd gone there by myself."
The sentiment is echoed by the others.
"It was great," said Fortier, noting they had their dress uniforms for the ceremonies. "It was way better than if I had been by myself or with (non-police) friends."
Having the others there, showing their support, also meant a lot personally to Gibson.
"The effort they went through on my behalf is very touching," he said.
"It was the trip of a lifetime."
© The Record (New Westminster) 2009
Originally published Feb 25, 2009
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