Const. Brian Woelders has been involved with minor hockey for two years. (Derek Cornet/larongeNOW Staff)

By Derek Cornet

Community engagement

RCMP building bridges through volunteerism in tri-communities

Oct 29, 2019 | 12:21 PM

When La Ronge RCMP Const. Brian Woelders assists in training new members, he always encourages them to be involved in the community and find ways to give back.

Woelders is just one of a number of local officers who go beyond their duties of a Mountie and sets aside personal time to volunteer. In recent years, he has coached baseball and soccer, but for the next several months he’ll be busy coaching the novice division for La Ronge Minor Hockey. Woelders first began coaching hockey last year when his son became involved in the sport.

“Being a police officer, sometimes the job can be high stress and it’s nice to be out with the kids and do something a lot more positive,” he said. “The kids, the ones who know I’m a police officer, really enjoy that I’m out there. They think it’s a big deal when police officers are helping out.”

It can be tough for Woelders to keep up with all his extracurricular activities as sometimes he’s on-call at the detachment. Woelders is a drug recognition expert and a qualified breath technician, so he’s often called upon when other officers suspect someone they are dealing with could be impaired. He noted, however, he does his best to find a replacement when such issues arise, adding his wife has also co-coached with him in the past.

Woelders mentioned it’s important for officers to become involved in the community. He said it gives them a chance to see residents in a different way outside of the job.

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“Quite often some of the people we deal with are in a really bad place,” Woelders said. “They’re at their worst and I think it has a tendency, especially with younger members, to really jade them about the community they’re helping to police. When you get out and volunteer, even if you don’t have kids, they see a different side of the community. It gives them a lot better balance of their opinions and how they feel about the people who live here.”

Another officer who has been busy volunteering is Cpl. Brent Nicol who sits on the executive of the La Ronge Ice Wolves. In recent months, he learned about NHLPA’s Goals and Dreams program and successfully applied for new hockey equipment for local kids. Nicol is expecting 20 sets of equipment to arrive in the area soon and he noted there will be an event held when it does.

The equipment will be for children between the ages of five and eight, and is meant for those who otherwise couldn’t afford to purchase it. He said the intention is to target children at a young age, keep them busy, active and off the streets.

“The way I look at it with my job as an RCMP officer, by doing this hopefully we can kind of build a bridge between us and the community,” Nicol said. “We’re not always looked upon as the favourite, but to show we can give back to the community as well, and help in other ways than just out there doing enforcement.”

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derek.cornet@jpbg.ca

Twitter: @saskjourno