Today, police bashing has become almost a national sport.
With this in mind, I was not surprised to see an ad displayed on an RCMP patrol car advising that they are hiring. Print media ads are also in abundance.
I served in the RCMP for a full career. About one half of my years were after the first female members came into the service. Today the RCMP is paying dearly for this experiment along with nearly every other endeavour they face as a modern Canadian police unit.
The sad fact is that as a police officer today of either sex, you are wrong before you get up in the morning. The armchair experts among the media, the courts and the public at large will seek and find reasons to be extremely critical of you on a daily basis.
A young Canadian person seeking a life-long occupation must give some very serious and negative thought to a policing career.
Policing, like any other occupation wherever males and females work together, will provide opportunities for those who would engage in sexual harassment.
Policing, however, will provide more opportunities for unacceptable behaviour through its varied nature. This should not have come as a complete surprise to any of the young women who joined the RCMP, yet it appears that it did in many cases.
Charles Scheideman
Saanichton
