Police job? part 2

[sho_bc]

So, because the first one was deleted, and I think it is helpful/useful as an insight to policing as a career (and because I have a question....) I'm starting this thread again.

So, my question is the following:
As I spend my non-working hours getting my room packed into boxes, is there anything suggested to bring/not bring to Depot that might not cross your mind until you're there, and its put away in one of many boxes? I've gone through the list thats posted online in the booklet, but its somewhat vague and open to interpretation.
Example: jeans and t-shirts? I know dress code is business casual, but a pair of jeans and a t-shirt or two for the weekends? and for business casual, do golf shirts pass as casual shirt-wear?
How about a laptop? any reason NOT to bring it? I'd like to keep a journal whenever I'd be able to fit it in between assignments, studying, polishing, sleeping, and more polishing. I find inputting on my laptop easier than writing in a book for speed and editing purposes.

.... I think thats it for now.

[Five-Oh]

First thing I would bring is one weeks worth of dress pants, button-up shirts, and ties. During the first week before you get your uniform you have to wear a shirt and tie. If you're there during the winter, you will also have to wear a shirt and tie to go to the mess hall on the weekends.

During the summer, dress code for the mess is at least a collared shirt and some decent pants (ie. Dockers). So I'd say bring about 4 collared shirts and a couple pairs of dockers.

For the weekends while you're not at the mess and after your classes are over for the day you can bring pretty much whatever you want as long as it isn't offensive. Jeans and t-shirt for the winter or shorts and t-shirt for the summer.

You'll also need to bring lots of work out clothes. Keep in mind you'll probably be working out or running about 10 times a week and going through shirts faster than you can clean them. You'll probably also want to bring gloves, a toque, and wind-resistant clothing for the winter runs because it is always freezing cold and really windy during the winter.

There are computers with open internet at Depot that you are allowed to use, so if you want to use those, you can use them instead of bringing a laptop. Most of the laptops that people had there we all used to watch movies and upload their pictures.

The main thing is to try to bring as little as possible because you don't have too much room for storage. Bring what you need and you will end up buying a lot of things while you're there.

[sho_bc]

"Bring as little as possible" includes a mountain of clothing, eh?
I spent the last 3 years paddling every day of the week, so I think I've got enough work-out shirts, and as long as no one else takes offense, I'm fine only changing shorts/thermal tights a couple of times in a few times in a week. That much paddling in False Creek sort of messes with your nose's sense of "smelly".

Are we going to be wearing runners with the dress pants etc? Or should I pack dress shoes as well?

Are we provided jackets during that first week, or should I be sure to bring something nice and toasty? I'll be heading out late February/March, so I'm guessing it'll still be relatively brisk there at that time. They're looking at a HIGH of -22*C for this Saturday...

Does this look about right in terms of average temperatures?

January Avg Low: -21° Avg High: -10° Avg Precipitation: 1.11 cm
February Avg Low: -17° Avg High: -7° Avg Precipitation: 0.75 cm
March Avg Low: -10° Avg High: 0° Avg Precipitation: 1.39 cm
April Avg Low: -2° Avg High: 11° Avg Precipitation: 1.78 cm
May Avg Low: 4° Avg High: 18° Avg Precipitation: 3.94 cm
June Avg Low: 10° Avg High: 23° Avg Precipitation: 5.77 cm
July Avg Low: 12° Avg High: 26° Avg Precipitation: 4.88 cm
August Avg Low: 11° Avg High: 25° Avg Precipitation: 3.86 cm
September Avg Low: 5° Avg High: 19° Avg Precipitation: 1.96 cm
October Avg Low: -2° Avg High: 11° Avg Precipitation: 1.79 cm
November Avg Low: -10° Avg High: 0° Avg Precipitation: 0.95 cm
December Avg Low: -18° Avg High: -7° Avg Precipitation: 1.17 cm

[Five-Oh]

They will give you 5 t-shirts with your name on it that you will wear during your fitness and PDT classes, so don't go too overboard on the amount of shirts you bring. You will also have to buy some Depot issue short shorts for your fitness classes.

No you will not be wearing runners with your dress pants. As far as footwear goes bring 1 pair of dress shoes, 1 pair of indoor running shoes, 1 pair of outdoor running shoes, and whatever shoes you regularly wear.

You do not receive a jacket to wear in your first week, so bring something warm.

As far as the temperature goes, those sound like average temperatures. But keep in mind that is average, it gets WAY colder. The first week I was there it was -55 with the windchill.

[Rich Sandor]

Alex, Regina is a fairly big city. You can buy whatever you need there! (it's not a total hick town - LOL)

So does this mean no more Taurus SHO at autocross? Will you be autocrossing a Crown Vic when you get back?

[skidmark]

Most of the stuff I needed aside from civilian dress I ended up buying either in the canteen at Depot or from the stores in Regina. I really can`t think of anything that I thought I should have brought from home and hadn`t.

Of course, that was 25 years ago now when they issued just about everything to you and will probably be somewhat different now.

[zulutango]

Wonder if your Drill Cpl likes mahogany polish like mine did? Canteen used to be the only source anywhere for it. Kiwi stopped making it I believe? Avoid the CC unless you like Regina Girls....kinda like Surrey Girls, but without the class or Skytrain Stations to work out of.

[sho_bc]

Rich, the SHO will be parked while I drive my beater out there. If there are auto-x or road course opportunities wherever I end up, then I'll be back in the game wherever that might be. Otherwise, I'll somehow manage it out to wherever I end up, park it, and do a whole shlew of work on it.

Are the T-shirts cotton? I've spoiled myself over the years with synthetics...
From what I've seen of the closet space, its a wonder things manage to stay inspectable... Do/did you use starch to keep things looking neat and tidy? That was a trick we used at my highschool in Thailand, to keep our uniforms looking cleanly pressed for class inspections.

Just wondering if driving down is advised/cautioned against? I think it might have been in the original thread, someone mentioned a troop-mate had bought a car while there in order to get around on the weekends? Would having a car there make me the designated taxi driver/DD on weekends?

[Five-Oh]

The t-shirts are cotton. They have an RCMP logo and your name across the front. You have to wear them while you're in fitness class and PDT, it isn't optional. Even if you like synthetics, the cotton t-shirts aren't the worst part. The worst part is the socks that they give you. I think when they were making those socks they actually designed them to be as uncomfortable as possible. I ended up buying some plain white socks from Wal-Mart and then got in trouble for not wearing the issue socks.

As for starching shirts, some people did that but I wasn't that fancy. I had never ironed before i went to Depot, so I drycleaned all my shirts and pants all the time. I always touched up the creases a bit because the dry cleaner always messed them up.

It would have been nice to have a car there, but with the money you can save on car insurance you might as well just take a taxi everywhere. Everything in Regina is a close taxi ride away and most of the people from Alberta/Sask/Manitoba bring cars and you can usually just hitch a ride from them if you want to go on a road trip to Regina Beach, Moose Jaw, or wherever else.

Edit: and yes you will be the DD every weekend if you bring a car.

[Soundy]

You won't need a car - you can just hop on the Riders bandwagon!

[l2_narain]

congrats!

[sho_bc]

Originally posted by l2_narain
congrats!

Not counting my chickens before they're hatched... They're still into the background stuff right now, but I've already told them the "worst" of me, so I'm pretty sure from here on in things will just look better and better.

They issue socks, as well? Hmm... do they make you take off your shoes to check your socks? Or is it possible to modify the issued socks to work with regular socks? (You can PM me with that answer if you like )

As for insurance savings... unless I got a storage space big enough for a car as well as all my misc belongings, I'd have to bring it with me, or sell it. I'll have to think on that one, because I'd like to be able to drive out to Wascana Racing Canoe Club and paddle on the weekends once it warms up a bit. Plus, I'd be able to store my paddling gear in the trunk and save closet space.

Five-Oh, what is the laundry situation like there? Are there coin machines? Machines for our own use with our own detergent etc?

[zulutango]

Closet space is not a concern. The onlt things you hang in your closet are your uniform. Used to get up at 5.15am and wet dust inside the entire closet, including the very top shelf, remake the bed, vacuum and wet dust the counter and drawers. You keep all your personal stuff in the trunk in your pit. It is your own personal area & is off bounds to others unless you forget to lock it. We had to go running outside if it was warmer that minus 30 C. It's so dry that you can run in Nikes, lng underwear under nylon jogging suit, bunny fir gloves and full balaclava from Stupid Store and you got to run to Wascana Park for some freedom. Coldest morning was a minus 49 with the wind chill of minus 95C. Nose hairs break off immediately at that temp. Its all a mind game and they really DO want you to graduate but you must be able to put up with more than you ever have in your life before. I wish you good luck>Like Charles Dickens said in the opening lines of one of his books..."it was the best of times, it was the worst of times". Anyone who tells you that it was fun is either a liar, has a very bad memory, or has a really warped sense of fun. Feeling the badge in your hand at the end makes it all worthwhile though.

[sho_bc]

Originally posted by zulutango
Its all a mind game and they really DO want you to graduate but you must be able to put up with more than you ever have in your life before. I wish you good luck>Like Charles Dickens said in the opening lines of one of his books..."it was the best of times, it was the worst of times". Anyone who tells you that it was fun is either a liar, has a very bad memory, or has a really warped sense of fun. Feeling the badge in your hand at the end makes it all worthwhile though.

I think I'll be one of those people who says it was fun at the end of it. Things that have both a huge mental and physical challenge are things I love. I'm the kind of idiot that would go to army boot camp repeatedly if that was my only commitment to the experience. I trained for Judo 4-6 hours/day in +40*C every day for 2 months straight, I guess now its time to experience the flip side: sub-zero.

How long are the morning runs? I think I remember reading 30-45 minutes somewhere?

[zulutango]

Things have softened a lot since I went thru. No more "duties" etc, no more stand to's in the dorms, no more CB's, a lot less yelling and screaming and mental & physical overload. Two guys in my Troop were former Military and they said that the RCMP 6 months of mental & physical was tougher than Armed Forces basic training. The acadamics are piled on top of all this too and we got a maximum of two chances to pass ANY test/exam. We lost guys who failed first aid and CPR. My son is a drill Instructor in the Cdn Forces boot camp and he agrees. Of the 31 other guys in my Troop, not one said they would ever do it again, exactly like the first time. Every single guy, at one time or another, said that they would have dropped out if there was a way they could have done so and kept "face" with their families and themselves. You HAD to really want to be there more than anything else in the world. It is a total commitment to the process with no backing off.


Classes are 45 minutes each period, but sometimes they combine 2 or more. Your cross-country run was spread over 3 hours but we did ours in winter with shoulder deep snow on the golf course and the "Regina Hills" It was a balmy -29 that day with moderate wind.

[sho_bc]

"CBs"?
My dad was a drill instructor with the RAF for a while, and has raised me in such a way that I've actually grown to LOVE ironing my clothes and making them perfect, love the uniformed/regulated/strict ordered way of life, etc etc etc. He knows my mental mindset, and he's agreed that I'd probably get a "high" from doing boot camp type programs. For me, its not so much the process, but the outcome that I get the high from. The challenge of achieving that end is one of those nagging things that drives me to completion. The bigger the challenge, the harder I work/the more effort I put in/the higher my drive to succeed and to "over"-achieve.

Just an example of my drive, I went from being a "lowly" recreational dragonboat paddler to winning a gold and silver with my club at the Club Crew worlds, and then the same again with the national team, within a year and a half. Also, I learned to speak/read/write Thai in less than 1 year.

I'm really going to have to put that drive to good use when it comes to running in shoulder-deep snow... haha

[sho_bc]

Originally posted by zulutango
We lost guys who failed first aid and CPR.

I'm guessing CPR and First Aid are mandatory courses, even though you need to have them to even go to Depot? And that the courses are harder than the ones available to the public, because the St. John's and Red Cross ones are pretty straight forward and easy to pass...

[Gt-R R34]

Originally posted by zulutango
Coldest morning was a minus 49 with the wind chill of minus 95C. Nose hairs break off immediately at that temp. I

omg....i am never ever going to regina in the winter....

[skidmark]

CB = confined to base

[zulutango]

"CB" also means dressing in uniform, forming up and marching to the Duty Cpl for an inspection, then marching back to the dorm. Repeat this ever hour, on the hour from Friday after class till Sunday night at 11pm. (you do get Sunday off till noon hour, and no overnight stuff). Also expect unannounced dorm inspections where they look for (or manufacturer if there none) "problems" with anything they like. This punishment was inflicted on each Troop as a group according to the date it was marked on the Sgt. Major's wall calander. It was also individually imposed for "attitude adjustment" purposes on deserving troopmates. The punishment was imposed even though you had done nothing wrong...to get you ready for the public humiliation and punishment when you leave Regina and have actually done nothing wrong. Also can be used as great pre-marriage conditioning because it's worse being right in a 'discussion" with your wife, than it is being wrong!!!!!!!!!


And before you ask...I did have a Troop CB but escaped an individual CB...my Pit partner and I were the only ones in the Troop to do so. Managed to duck the heat seekers. Did get my hat tossed on the floor because of dust that had collected underneath my bed between when we left for morning classes and when we got back for lunch. Someone also came in & unbuttoned the top buttons on 2 of my shirts hanging in the closet but I found them in time. It's a mind game.

[jaguar604]

Congrats

I know two people who were differed for a year on their applications because one of their friends, who they have not talked to in months, smoke marijuana.

Threads like this give me some great information since I'm going to apply within the year.

[sho_bc]

Of the people I associate with, only one of them I know is a "frequently casual" pot smoker. This situation and its circumstances were made made clear to those officers/retired officers working on my file many stages ago, so I don't think I should have any problems with that. If there are others, then I guess it sucks to be me for not being more aware of what they do when I'm not around, and will deal with that bridge if it presents itself.

[PR0WL]

Dont but too much before you go, I made that mistake... I would strongly advise not bringing your car as well. Like Five-oh said you will be DD and everyone will be asking you to drive them to Tim Hortons and WalMart and NOT just on weekends...

There's phones that go directly to the cab companies and when you get a van and fill it, it ends up being cheap.

One small thing to add to the list; FLIP FLOPS or some kind of sandals. You dont want athletes foot! Bring them, they dont have them at the canteen.

As for Mohagany polish, theres a store in Regina that carries it if the canteen doesnt. (canteen ran out when i was there!)

[sho_bc]

Flip flops? Interesting. What for? I've got flip flops, and I've got crocs.... any one better than the other?

Also, if I were to bring my paddle and PFD so that I could paddle on the weekends (but no car), would there be a place to store/secure them? My paddle costs over $500... I guess I'm not so worried about theft, given where I'd be, but more worried about damage, getting knocked about or knocked over.

[PR0WL]

wear flipflops or sandals (whatever you wanna call em) in the shower to prevent athletes foot. I just went to old navy and bought a pair for 5 bucks which is all u need.

The socks they issue you (the blue ones especially) will make your feet rotten, dont wear them. You might get busted for not wearing issue socks but i doubt it, even if you do its still worth it.

I was there through the summer mostly, my feet got really smelly and if i was wearing the issue socks it would have been a lot worse, it got over 40 degrees above and when you're standing in the middle of the parade square wearing wool and trying not to move its not so fun. A few people collapsed in the heat - not fun.