A career in Law Enforcement

Page 15

Policing requires more brains than brawn

Sports are what drew Const. Dana Donald to a career as a police officer, but helping people is what keeps him motivated and challenged.

"The most rewarding thing is to hear you've done a good job, maybe made things

a little better, maybe shown someone a little direction. If you can help someone without laying charge and going to court - that's rewarding," says Donald, a Metis.

He didn't plan on joining the Edmonton Police Services; in fact, he graduated with a bachelor of arts, economics major, from the University of Albert in 1985. From there he went into finance at the Northern Alberta Institute of Technology, which prepared him for a career as an assistant manager of administration in a major bank.

He quickly became frustrated by what he called the monotony and predictability of the job.

"At 2 p.m. on any given day, you knew what you were going to be doing."

Talking to his friends who were with the Edmonton Police Serve convinced him he would like the job, and he joined up o March 4, 1991.

One of the most attractive things about the job, for Donald, is the shift work. Five 10-hour nights in a row followed by five days off leaves him lots of time to golf and play various sports with the EPS teams.

The shift work is also one of the toughest things about the job, because of the constant changes from days to nights and because court appearances sometimes follow a 10-hour shift.

"I could work all night and then have court all day - and that's brutal."

Donald's training lasted 38 weeks, much of it in the classroom, where recruits focused on conflict resolution and people skills.

"There's always different ways to go about solving a problem, and they're trying to find people like that. Charging people and going to court isn't always the answer. They want us to start looking at other avenues as well."

Getting through the training and the first days on the job are tough, Donald adds, especially for Natives who come from small communities and remote reserves.

"It's pretty intimidating when you first come in and you're not using to wearing a uniform and seeing uniforms. I think that's the hardest part that Native recruits have, coming into an organizations that's very structured, with uniforms, it's just not something that they're used to".

Being Native helps him on the job, adds the 30-year-old Donald, who was born and raised in Edmonton.

"In downtown Edmonton there seems to be a high Native population and they seem to be more receptive to dealing with Natives. They always ask me 'Are you Native?' and when they find out I am, they'd always rather talk to me than to my partner."

Donald likes the way police work is changing. Constables are encouraged to get out and talk to people on their "turf" - the area they are assigned to work - and to get to know community leaders. That way, community members and the police work together to make their neighborhoods safer places to live.

"A lot of people want to help," Donald says.

He doesn't have his own turf yet, but he has applied to take over one next time there's an opening. For now, he rides in a patrol car and responds to dispatched calls.

One of the most challenging tasks he faces on a day-to-day basis is staying sensitive to the needs of the people he gets involved with. It may be the 10th break-and-enter he and his partner have responded to that day, but for the victim, it may be the first time their home has been burgled. He has to stay sensitive to the victim, which is probably feeling traumatized.

Changing someone's perception of police for the better is something Donald particularly enjoys.

"If you can change one guy's opinion - someone who has a typical view of cops - that makes you feel good."