A15

By Michelle Rose
This Week Staff

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When situations in the Codiac region require specific assistance that only certain officers are trained for, they rely on the committed members of the force who have taken additional roles in specialty units.

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Sergeant Jeff Johnston

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Two of the Codiac RCMP’s Harleys.

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Corporal Louis LeBlanc, Codiac Forensic Identification Services

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Back row, left to right: Constable Pete MacLean, Constable Rick Nicholson, Constable Daniel Laporte, Constable Derek Snow Front row, left to right: Constable Madeleine Arsenault, Constable Geneviève Reid, Constable Paul Richard

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Back row, left to right: Constable Scott Messier, Constable David Swansburg, Constable Sylvain LeBlanc, Constable Anthony Egeileh Front row, left to right: Constable Stéphanie Rheault, Corporal Denise Vautour, Constable James Uckardès, Sergeant Ron Cleveland

The Crisis Negotiation Team is an enhanced unit that is called in if situations require mediation.

Sgt. Jeff Johnston has been a member of the J Division Crisis Negotiation Team for the past four years. Jeff explains that although it is sometimes difficult, he loves being a part of the team.

"Many people go through crisis and challenges in their life, and people decide to deal with their troubles in various ways," he says. "No matter how demanding or difficult it gets, it's always rewarding to help people get out of compromising situations."

The Negotiation Team has nine crisis negotiators and two psychologists throughout the province. The team works hand in hand with the emergency response team, and are deployed during provincial high risk situations. The team is comprised of individuals who work as regular officers on a daily basis and are on-call 24/7 if a crisis situation arises.

"Just in the past two years we have taken on the role of assisting with conflict situations such as protests, fishing disputes, and blockades," Jeff explains.

Officers must undergo extensive training in order to become part of the Negotiation team.

"First we have to attend a two-week negotiator course in Ottawa," he says. "On a yearly basis we update our training through conferences and educational courses to keep all our skills up to date. We also do a lot of scenario training."

Jeff explains that they study the psychology behind it all to give the officers a better understanding of the mind in order to deal with the very stressful situations they find themselves in. The team receives an average of 15 to 20 calls a year and Jeff syas that they have a high success rate through their negotiation.

"Every situation is unique, but most situations are resolved within eight to ten hours," he says. "Now, there's always the exception of shorter and longer resolutions." He says some cases have gone longer than 24 hours.

Jeff quickly corrects himself when he says that his job is very rewarding.

"It's extremely rewarding," he says. "I get the opportunity to help people in their darkest hour. I get the chance to help someone see something positive in their situation, or to free a hostage- it's great."

He suggests that if you ever find yourself in a hostage situation you should stay calm.

"Our team is passionate about what they do, and that makes a huge difference when it comes to our success rate."