CPS Member Spotlight On The Auxiliary Team
written by JaimeKristal Lott
Meet some of the Cobourg Police Service’s Auxiliary Unit with these mini-spotlights! Auxiliary Police Sergeants and Constables are all volunteers who give their time to the community because they want to make a difference. Here is how these four people joined the team and why they love it.
Auxiliary Sergeant Dennis George
Newspapers often report on life-changing events that have already occurred, but for Dennis George it was an ad in a newspaper that changed his life. Two years ago, he read of the Cobourg Police Service looking to recruit more team members and decided to apply to become an Auxiliary Police Constable.
Within a year of his service Dennis was promoted to Sergeant, which he says is the best of both worlds. He is in charge of the administrative work for his team but also still gets to be a part of crime prevention initiatives and community events. His favourite duty is the Lock It Or Lose It program that helps protect vehicles from theft. Last winter the auxiliary team was able to help 1700 people better protect their cars and, with this year’s blitz, they hope to reach out to 2000 locals —all of which Dennis will be coordinating.
Every year CPS looks for new recruits and, though Dennis is not in charge of the hiring process, he does have the goal of bringing even more diversity to the team. He wants the Auxiliary to be reflective of the town and have people from all walks of life. No matter the age, race, gender, or education, Dennis says there is a place and a project for everyone. From ride-alongs with sworn officers to administrative duties to canvassing neighbourhoods to assisting with various programs, being an Auxiliary member allows you to get a look behind the scenes without having to commit your entire career in policing.
“It’s a fantastic opportunity to get out there, a chance to do things you would never dream of doing and creating a safer environment for everybody. If you want to make a difference in the community this is probably one of the best ways to do it. We’ve been nicknamed the Feel-Good Police because we are the friendly face here to just help people.”
Auxiliary Sergeant Brooke Morris
Brooke Morris has a strong sense of justice, which is why she completed her education with both a Police Foundations Program and Advanced Law. Yet it was not enough to deal with crime prevention in her day job, Brooke also wanted to use her knowledge and experience to give back to the community by joining the Cobourg Police Service as an Auxiliary Police Constable.
Auxiliary team members are all volunteers and spend their time canvassing neighbourhoods; conducting car seat clinics, lock it or lose it checks, and property audits; helping at community events and fundraisers; not to mention assisting with whatever needs doing —such as searching for a lost child on the beach. As a number of CPS members do start as these Auxiliary volunteers who were then later hired on, Brooke hopes to work her way up through CPS. Her first goal is to become a Sergeant for the Auxiliary team then perhaps going on to be a special constable or sworn officer. Just recently, on October 7th 2021, Brooke realized the first step of her dream by becoming the first female Auxiliary Sergeant.
Other than her brand-new promotion, one of Brooke’s most memorable moments of being an Auxiliary PC was when she was part of the Food and Toy Drive last Christmas. A little boy asked what she was doing and, after explaining how some parents did not have enough money to buy their children gifts, the child asked his mother if they could give a toy because he did not want anyone to be without presents. It is always heartwarming to see the generous hearts of children and seeing them realize that giving to others is a wonderful thing.
“Don’t ever feel like you can’t accomplish a goal, because there is always something you can do. Just by doing little things, even if it is just one thing this day and another the next day, in the end you make a difference. You might feel it is just a small thing you’ve done, but you may have made an impact in somebody else’s life that was big for them.”
Auxiliary PC Liz Rylance
Liz Rylance is one of the original Auxiliary members who was part of the very first class of recruits. When Liz had been looking to make a career change and considering becoming a police officer, a family friend told her about the new Auxiliary team starting. She thought it was the perfect opportunity to experience what it was like to be a cop and applied to become an Auxiliary Police Constable.
One of the first things Liz did upon joining the team was become certified to educate caregivers on how to properly install baby car seats and vehicle safety. The Auxiliary team needed someone to help with their Car Seat Clinics and Liz thought it would be an interesting new thing to learn. She never expected it to become her passion and she now runs the program with another team member holding these clinics throughout the year.
Within a few months of volunteering, Liz did discover a career in policing was not for her but she decided to stay on with the Auxiliary unit anyways. She loves the social aspect of interacting with the community and finds making a difference in this way to be rewarding. Through the Auxiliary, Liz has met some amazing people —not just the team members she bonded with who have become life-long friends, but also a few visiting celebrities as well. Her most memorable moment, however, was being the person to find a missing child who never returned home from school one winter. Needless to say, everyone was happy when he finally got back safely thanks to Liz.
“People shouldn’t think only a certain type of person can do this. You don’t need to be perfectly physically fit, you don’t need to be young, you don’t even need to desire to fight crime. Some people join the Auxiliary as a stepping stone to their career in policing and this is a great way to do it, but other team members just want to get involved with their community. Don’t ever think you can’t do it, because you can.”
Auxiliary PC Sean Steip
Though Sean Steip’s education, previous work, and interests are similar to what is needed in policing, he had never considered applying to a police service. It was not until moving to Cobourg and befriending Sergeant Richardson —who thought he could be a good fit for the auxiliary team— that Sean realized this was something he wanted to do. It was a great way for him to give back to the community that welcomed and supported his family. Now, whenever Sean is not working at his nine-to-five job, he is lending a hand at #cobourgpoliceservice as an Auxiliary Police Constable.
Unexpectedly, the timing was not great for him joining the team because shortly thereafter the first wave of the pandemic hit and everything shut down. The beach was closed, events were postponed, and people were mostly staying home. However, Sean was given the main responsibility of monitoring the “black cat”—a box often attached to traffic lights to capture data—in order to generate reports and look for patterns in driver behaviours. A year and a half later, he is still responsible for this and enjoys it, but Sean is also glad he gets out more doing beach patrols and helping with Crime Prevention Through Environmental Design (CPTED), too.
Sean takes a lot of pride in being on the Auxiliary team. It is rewarding for him to be recognized by locals as doing a good job and also meeting with youths. Children tend to be intimidated by the uniform so being able to get down on their level, let kids be “cop for the day”, help them understand officers are always willing to help, and seeing them smile is what Sean considers to be one of the best parts of the job.
“If your goal is to see some smiles, affect change, and be a positive contribution to the town of Cobourg, becoming an Auxiliary PC is a fantastic way of doing that.”
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Cobourg Police Service is currently recruiting.
To find out more on how to join the Auxiliary Unit, go here.