THUNDER BAY — Three individuals are now embarking on their careers as city police officers.
Brooke Finnegan, Edwin Otero, and Kallum Kennedy were honoured and sworn in as the service's newest constables during a ceremony at the Thunder Bay Courthouse on March 27 in front of family and friends.
“It’s an exciting day for these new constables and does bring back a few memories from when I had my ceremony,” remarked Thunder Bay Police Service Chief Darcy Fleury.
“It is really important that we celebrate these achievements.
“This is the first step of a rewarding career for them. I'm sure they're going to do well and continue to develop as officers.”
Fleury added there is another group of cadets that will go through training to become constables in the summer.
Finnegan changed careers after welcoming a baby into the world.
“I have always been interested in working in policing but I did transition,” Finnegan said.
“I was a worker with IMPACT as a nurse. While doing that I actually found that being a police officer, you're able to have more of an impact on the community. I was interested in doing more things and getting out into the community as a police officer.”
The Integrated Mobile Police Assessment Crisis Team (IMPACT) is a group of specialized mental health workers who attend calls with specially trained officers to assist in mental health crisis calls over the past three years.
Finnegan said that her experience as an IMPACT worker will help in her new role as a constable in terms of maintaining relationships with the community and learning how to speak to people in a crisis situation.
In terms of further recruitment, Fleury knows the force needs to aim for diversity.
“We continue to take steps towards that goal,” Fleury noted.
“In an Indigenous community, we like to have conversations with some of the advisors and implement some strategies that we can undertake to get people interested in a career in policing. We also engage in other recruiting drives to show people that this is our service, this is what we have to offer and really emphasize how rewarding a career in policing can be.”
