By Ashley Wiebe & Charles Lefebvre

MHPS Cadet Training program underway

Jan 8, 2018 | 12:44 PM

MEDICINE HAT, AB — 11 aspiring police officers took the first step in their training on Monday.

The Medicine Hat Police Service is running its second ever Cadet Training Program, with eight police service cadets and three cadets from the Blood Tribe Police service beginning a 20 week program to become police officers.

Medicine Hat Police Chief Andy McGrogan spoke with CHAT News about what the cadets can expect during the training.

Blood Tribe Police Chief Kyle Melting Tallow was also on hand for the event, and spoke about what he is hoping his cadets will learn.

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The three cadets with the Blood Tribe First Nation will work on the front lines in the reserve upon graduation in May.

“Our population is about 13,000 people and we have a police force of 31 officers,” said Chief Kyle Melting Tallow. “So policing is a bit of a challenge in that we have a large terrain to cover.

It’s a large area with even bigger concerns.

“We have a lot of social issues on our First Nation,” he said. “More recently we’ve been hit by the fentanyl crisis where the local nation has declared a state of emergency.”

Chief Melting Tallow said the crisis has led to a rise in crime, including mischief and theft. He believes it’s all linked to drugs in the community.

“There’s not a lot of employment on reserves, not a lot of opportunities for people to have a good lifestyle there so they resort to these addictions because of the despair in the community,” he added.

The relationship is a first for the Medicine Hat Police Service, something Chief McGrogan thinks will help this cadet class in the weeks to come.

“We’ve got those culture differences that we can experience from each other and it’s going to be great fun,” he said.

“It’s a very proud moment for us to be policing in the region and have our training appropriate,” Melting Tallow added.