Officer well-being top of mind for Kamloops RCMP Superintendent

“You can see this summer it’s shown its value.”

Kamloops is responsible for roughly 30 per cent of calls for the ERT, which covers the entire Southeast District, but Lecky said it’s unlikely Kamloops would see its own designated force.

“The cost of that is significant, but to have more members of the team that are working out of the Kamloops area, I’d certainly encourage and be in supportive of. But again it’s a cost thing,” he said. “Having a response time that’s shorter is better than longer, but it clearly is a demonstrated need for us in Kamloops. Having that volume in that short of period of time, some of which was related to mental health, some related to organized crime and the drug trade. The mental health component is really the one that’s been growing for us and is a big concern.

“It’s one of those teams that if you have it you will use it. I’ve worked in areas where you don’t have a team readily available so you try and find other ways to address your concerns, but it’s still a high risk that we put our members and staff through and not one I’d like to if I can avoid.”

With several high risk incidents comes more demand from officers, both mentally and physically. Lecky said one of the detachment’s biggest concerns is making sure officer mental health and well-being is looked after.

“I think in policing in general that is a big concern now in terms of making sure our people are looked after,” he said. “It’s not just the members that are involved. There are members who aren’t involved and there’s also staff members who are impacted. Our municipal employees on a daily basis have to work with us and they feel and live what we’re going through as well.”

Lecky added that the RCMP in general has been more in tune with the mental health component of the job, and said it’s a priority for Kamloops.

“Overall it’s a big and major concern for me in Kamloops. The degree of violence and violence that’s often times targeted towards police, to see the impact it has on our staff is the thing that bothers me the most.”

by Ashley Legassic

Officer well-being top of mind for Kamloops RCMP Superintendent

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