Police cadets participate in a training scenario in Medicine Hat. (Photo Courtesy Kevin Kyle)

By Brendan Miller

‘Make a difference in my community’: police cadets passionate about law enforcement

Feb 22, 2023 | 3:45 PM

MEDICINE HAT, AB – Fifteen police cadets training in Medicine Hat are nearing their graduation date.

The cadets have been in a 24-week training program they have been involved with since last October. Next month the successful cadets will graduate and start their careers as full-fledged police officers.

Ten of those participating in the program are from Medicine Hat, three are from Lethbridge and two are joining the program from the Manitoba First Nations Police Service.

Working on their skills in de-escalation and problem-solving, firearms and teamwork, the cadets in the program hope soon they will be wearing a badge and serving their community.

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Brooklyn Berrington is from Medicine Hat and says she’s always been interested in a career in law enforcement. After studying criminal justice south of the border she moved back to Medicine Hat to pursue her dreams.

“I would like to make a difference in my community, in the world,” says Berrington.

“Hopefully help change to be a positive aspect of the community, somebody that they can look up to, maybe see some other little girls out there in school someday and look up at you and be like ‘you know I could do that one day’ and that would be fantastic,” she says.

Tanner Campbell joined the program from Lethbridge and says he wants to make an impact in his community.

“It’s about the community and helping people in any circumstance whether they love you or hate you and that’s kind of the role I wanted to take on is just being there for people in some of their most dire situations,” he says.

Insp. Joe West says the cadets learn from the experience of seasoned officers by simulating real-life situations and evaluating all the risks involved in policing.

“We very carefully select our field training officers that have those attributes that you speak of,” says West. “They’ve been around for a while, they’re very experienced, they spend a lot of time on patrols and they have a wealth of knowledge and experience and intuition to pass on to the younger officers.”

Their wealth of knowledge will guide the new cadets during the challenges they will face on the job.

“Saying we lean on one another and we are going to have to do that the rest of our careers so it’s so important and that’s drilled into us from the training team, from other experienced officers and even now we get to see it ourselves,” Berrington says.

The successful cadets will graduate from the training program on March 17.