A career in policing would be an interesting next step in John Farrell’s life.
“It’s a very interesting prospect,” said Farrell, speaking to SooToday near the OPP information booth at a career fair held at Sault College Wednesday.
Farrell, at one time, struggled with cocaine use, ending up on the street before cleaning himself up through his own resolve.
“It would be awesome if I could move up to that level where I could actually be in a place of authority and help those types of people in need,” said Farrell, a high school grad, currently working in construction, with a desire to pursue a post-secondary education.
“Why not try and move forward to the next stage in life and try helping people…I have a better idea of what goes on in certain areas (homeless, troubled areas), because I know those areas, what people are doing in those areas, because I lived it,” Farrell said, in keeping with the modern approach of community policing, treating troubled people as individuals who are not bad, but need help.
“There are a lot of retirements coming up but we are always actively hiring,” said Constable Renee Taylor, North Bay-based OPP recruiter for the Northeast Region.
Pre-registered guests signed up for an information session at the OPP classroom at 744 Great Northern Road (located behind the Sault Ste. Marie OPP detachment's main building at 742 Great Northern Road) from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. Wednesday.
“There is so much interest, so I’m absolutely going to come back to the Sault, in two or three months, and hold another information session, hopefully at a bigger venue. The registered seats were gone in just a few days,” Taylor said.
“A lot of people have other skills that would benefit our organization,” Taylor said, stating one does not have to possess a post-secondary education in programs such as Police Foundations in order to apply to the OPP or other law enforcement agencies.
“There are transferable skills…things like computer science, a sign language interpreter, the options are endless. I highly suggest people go to an information session to get an idea what the hiring process is.”
The OPP process includes a 12-week training course at the Ontario Police College (OPC) in Aylmer, Ontario, followed by an additional nine weeks with the OPP Academy in Orillia.
“I know the OPP is on a huge hiring blitz and policing is something I’ve always dreamed about since I was in high school. It’s really what I want to do,” said Tyson Greco, a Sault native and graduate of Sault College’s Justice Studies program, currently working as a security guard locally.
“I see how much they care about society and the work they put in, their caring goes a long way. I think it’s a very mature role to play and it’s something I want to be a part of,” said Greco, who volunteers with Big Brothers Big Sisters.
“Helping people out is something that’s always intrigued me and I hope to continue with it (in law enforcement),” Greco said.
“After completing my studies I am interested in joining the OPP,” said Jaspal Singh, a Sault College mechanical engineering student.
“I would love this job. I have my mechanical engineering but I also would love to join the police to help other people,” said Singh, adding he has been inspired by fellow students in the college’s Justice Studies program.
The RCMP and the Sault Ste. Marie Police Service were also on hand at Wednesday’s career fair.
“We’re always interested in qualified applicants because the application process can be lengthy, so we like to do them as often as we can to have a qualified list of applicants ready. Right now we are hiring for a lot of civilian positions. We’re looking for full and part time civilian relief staff, cross-trained to fill in a lot of different areas,” said Constable Sonny Spina of the Sault Ste. Marie Police Service.
Career information for local and provincial police and the RCMP are available at each law enforcement agency’s website