We want you: Calgary police auxiliary program hiring new cadets

Have you been considering a career in law enforcement but don't know where to start?

The Calgary Police Service is gearing up to hire its next class of auxiliaries, giving up to 20 young people the chance to experience what it is like to work for the police service before applying for a position.

The paid internship program started in 2013 to allow young adults to get a first-hand look at the service.

Const. Lynze McDonald said the program will receive hundreds of applications, so CPS is hosting an open house on Tuesday for people interested in the program to learn what it's all about.

McDonald and auxiliary Cadet Maruf Chowdhury told the Homestretch what it's like to be an auxiliary and what applicants can expect at the event.

The following is an edited transcript from that interview.

Q: How does the auxiliary program work?

McDonald: We do six weeks of training, which begins in May.

Once they're done that six weeks of training they are deployed out to the districts and they work at the front counters alongside the constable that works the front counters as well.

Q: How fit do you have to be?

M: You have to be somewhat fit with a motivation of getting more fit.

Q: Maruf, you started the program eight months ago. What made you want to apply for this program?

Chowdhury: I always wanted to be a police officer and I was looking over my options as to what I could do to be more of a stronger applicant.

I saw the auxiliary program, decided to give it a go and here we are.

Q: What does the program teach?

M: Most of the meat and potatoes within that six weeks is learning their actual job, which is the front counter.

But we also extend that out to other parts of the service. We want auxiliaries to get a real good feel of what the service is all about.

Q: What does your job as an auxiliary look like?

C: Since we are at the front counter the majority of the job is collisions reports or simple reports. Anything with a suspect we give to a constable because we're not that experienced yet.

We are learning a lot through [training nights]. Some of them are fitness nights to improve our fitness levels.

Q:  What parts of the service have you enjoyed learning about the most?

C: Originally when I first got on the traffic section I was like, oh man. But we go there and they really explained what they do and I just thought it was the coolest thing.

It wasn't just tickets, it was collision reconstruction and the physics and the math that went behind it, which, as nerdy as it sounds, interests me. But I thought that was awesome to see and they had me hooked.

Q: What is the age range of cadets?

M: Anybody that's over the age of 18 can apply. Our target age is 20-26 and that is what we really try to focus on.

We want somebody who is motivated and they have that drive to want to better themselves. Somebody who wants to be involved with their community.

Q: What can people expect at the open house?

M: The doors will open at 6:30 p.m. at the police headquarters. We'll have some slide show information and then the applicants have a chance to speak to those of us within our unit.

As well as we're going to have a large number of auxiliaries on hand so applicants can talk to them and get some first-hand information from those in the program.

For more information visit www.calgarypolicecadets.com. Applications must be filled out at www.calgary.ca/careers.

The Calgary Police Service Auxiliary Program open house starts at 6:30 p.m. on Tuesday at Police Headquarters, located at 5111 47th Street N.E.

With files from the Homestretch