By Chad Klassen

Students spending part of spring break training with the RCMP

Mar 21, 2017 | 6:00 PM

KAMLOOPS — Students from across School District 73 are getting the opportunity this week to train like RCMP officers and get a taste of what it would be like to go to bootcamp. 

They’re learning everything from what it’s like to train with the RCMP dive team, the police riot unit, and targeted enforcement unit. 

On Monday, they spent time with the police dog services. Twenty-three students got to watch as Cst. Dave Lewis’ dog “Griff” tracked down the scent, an amazing experience for the kids, some of whom want to join the K-9 unit one day. 

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“Being a dog handler would be my number one thing to do,” said Grade 12 student Jayden Davidson. “It takes a lot of time to become a dog handler, but from what I saw in the presentation, it’s 100% worth it.”

It requires five years of general duty work before these guys and gals could be trained to be a dog handler, an 85-day course they have to take in Innisfail, Alberta, where RCMP dogs are bred and trained. 

After the presentation, the students were impressed with what they saw. 

“That presentation was unreal, how professional the dogs are,” said Grade 11 student Ryan Pinette. “RCMP has to be really professional, right, so that means anyone or anything that works with them has to be professional, too.”

Outside, the students got to see a criminal apprehension, during which the police dogs play a key role in taking down suspects. 

Between waking up at 5 a.m. every morning this week, marching, and immersing themselves in police duties, it’s giving many of the kids the bug to join the RCMP one day.