NWCC Criminology Blog

Laverne Stewart – CCSJ practicum 2011 student blog

Shift 14

Today I stepped out of the box and went to St. Patrick’s House Society for the day. St. Patrick’s House Society is a Community Living BC residential program for men. For more information you can go to www.comunitylivingbc.ca 

I started off the day watching the front desk, observing how they log all phone calls and people that entered and left the building. I sat in a couple of different group sessions.

Laverne Stewart. has lived in Terrace, B.C. for eight years and is a working mother of three boys. Her area of interest in criminology is in Correctional Services, so she is completing her CCSJ work practicum with a Parole Office in Prince George, B.C.

Sean De Melo – CCSJ practicum 2011 student blog

Shift 12:

This was my second and last night shift, which was on a rainy Wednesday. You can just imagine how busy this night was going to be... All that happened on this shift was a couple of dropped 911 calls that required us to go over there and check it out to make sure everything was good.

Then we ended up just driving around for the night pretty much and going back to the office because the officer I was with had some paper work to finish. We ended up going to this one guy who got pulled over, and the officer who pulled him over called for PDS (Police Dog Squad) to do a search.

And that was pretty much it, we’ll call that another shift. However, this shift I was able to take a picture in the bullet proof vest!

Sean De Melo is a 21-year-old criminology student from Kitimat currently finishing up the Community, Crime and Social Justice (CCSJ) program. He hopes to pursue a career with the municipal police in Vancouver.

Laverne Stewart – CCSJ practicum 2011 student blog

Shift 12

Today was a great day to go out to Kenneth Creek Camp; we went to meet with the clients there. They were all busy working on the new building.

All were very interested in completing the tasks at hand, which was very encouraging to see; however, we did have to take a few minutes of their time to touch base and see how they've progressed. We took a better walk around the grounds, and I was able to go walk down to their sweat grounds, what a beautiful place!

 

Shift 13

Today was a day for some catch up, for example, with emails, morning meeting, did some read ups on a client. I also helped a Parole Officer type up a Community Assessment Report. I was also answering phone calls throughout the day.

Laverne Stewart. has lived in Terrace, B.C. for eight years and is a working mother of three boys. Her area of interest in criminology is in Correctional Services, so she is completing her CCSJ work practicum with a Parole Office in Prince George, B.C.

Laverne Stewart – CCSJ practicum 2011 student blog

Shift 10

I spent a lot of time on the computer today trying to find a way to help the Aboriginal Elder out with a way to type up a scheduling plan. I also talked to a Treatment Centre nearby about the way they plan out their days. Then I went with one of the POs to look around for one of the clients and while doing that I was shown the different shelters in town.

I saw where the courthouse is and one of the churches that a client likes to attend, so basically I got a little tour of downtown Prince George.

 

Shift 11

I went with my supervisor and a parole officer to Activators for a meeting with the Executive Director and Aboriginal Elder who have the contact and are in charge of Kenneth Creek Camp (which will soon have another name as they are in the process of officially opening the program).

This is a place where the parolees are on a work release and they will be gaining some employment training/receiving certificates, and they also will have some guidance from an Aboriginal Elder.

Laverne Stewart. has lived in Terrace, B.C. for eight years and is a working mother of three boys. Her area of interest in criminology is in Correctional Services, so she is completing her CCSJ work practicum with a Parole Office in Prince George, B.C.

Kristi Genzale – CCSJ practicum 2011 student blog

Today was by far the most cool day I have spent with the Abbotsford Police. Though it was an early 6:30am start, I got to take a ride in the armed vehicle which is like a tank/hummer to New Westminster to tag along with the MIERT (Municipal Integrated Emergency Response Team) while they did their marine training.

The day started off with PT for them, which was a swim test in their uniforms with a series of tests they had to accomplish like jumping off the 10 foot diving board. After that, we drove to the police detachment in New Westminster for the team to suit up and to go over a safety power-point. From there, the team went on a zodiac boat and I went on a bigger boat that was also being used for their training.

The MIERT team learned how to come aboard another boat from the zodiac at high speeds. So what they do is stick their boat to the boat they want to board and they drive long side of it at fast speeds and they basically jump between boats, and then they do a search of the boat's cabin. It was really cool to watch them run and participate in their scenarios.

After that, some members from the New Westminster detachment and I took the zodiac to an island under the Port Mann bridge in the river where we were doing the training and built a shelter out of a tarp. The point of this scenario was to come on the island and find the tarp and take into custody the people on the island and question us. The two officers and I that where on the island shot rounds into the sky and when we were caught we where supposed to lie about everything they asked us. They where so quiet we didn’t even hear them surround us. We wore masks and had training guns and hid in the bushes; waiting for them to come in and arrest us.

The MIERT team trained like it was real, it was super cool to see and observe how they work. By far this was the best day of my practicum.

Kristi Genzale is a 19-year-old born and raised in Chilliwack, BC, who has always wanted to be a police officer. Kristi, who is returning in the fall to NWCC to work towards an Associate Degree in Criminology, is doing her CCSJ work practicum with the Abbotsford Municipal Police.

Brianna Gibson – CCSJ practicum 2011 student blog

shift 10
I went out with an officer to do a school field trip. In the fall, the class collects eggs and raises them until they reach the fry stage in the spring and then they get released back into the creek from where they came from.

It is very important to bring them back to their birth place because fish do a thing called imprinting where they memorize the scent of the stream and when they are at the end of their cycle they return back to the stream from the ocean to lay their eggs and die.

Generations of fish go back to the same spot. It was very cute to see all the kids get so excited.

Brianna Gibson is 23 years old and born and raised in Terrace. She plans to continue at NWCC this fall, going directly into the second year of the Associate Degree in Arts – Criminology Specialization.

Adrienne Chisholm – CCSJ practicum 2011 student blog

Shift Ten

At long last, something I can learn from has occurred! After curfew this evening one of the residents told us she was going out for a smoke and then she took off and did not come back. Her parole conditions require her to remain at the residential facility after curfew therefore leaving is considered a breach of her parole and we had to call the on-duty corrections officer (CDO).  The CDO pronounced her unlawfully at large (UAL) and issued a warrant for her arrest. As residential support workers, we were required to fill out an incident report that is submitted to her parole officer.

I find it very interesting how quickly circumstances can change in these women's lives. Yesterday she was enjoying a visit with her husband and soaking up all the praise for their baking project and today she is UAL and probably going back to jail. She only had another 10 days to go before she was discharged. There had been an anonymous call earlier that day in which someone informed us that she had been seen smoking crack. All we could do is observe her behaviour and Monday she would have been sent for a urinalysis (UA).

When a woman decides she wants to breach her parole conditions there is nothing we can do about it, we are just there to provide support and encourage her to make better decisions in her life.

Adrienne Chisholm has lived with her family in Terrace, B.C. since 1992. She plans on continuing her studies at NWCC, and work toward an Associate of Arts Degree.

Sean De Melo – CCSJ practicum 2011 student blog

Shift 11:

Today I was with the NLU in district 2. Today was not busy at all. All my partner and I did was drive around and run license plates to see if there were any stolen vehicles. We also went to a probation meeting which was nothing that special either. But yea, today was a really slow day. Good officer, but not a busy day at all. 

Sean De Melo is a 21-year-old criminology student from Kitimat currently finishing up the Community, Crime and Social Justice (CCSJ) program. He hopes to pursue a career with the municipal police in Vancouver.

Adrienne Chisholm – CCSJ practicum 2011 student blog

Shift Nine

One of the resident's husbands was visiting this evening and he baked a lovely cake that was served with berries and glaze on top, it was delicious.

Later on, after everyone was in bed, we completed more health and safety checklist items and other new employee orientation procedures; I learned how to check messages! Dial *98, press 1 to review messages....really? Zzzzzzz. Please forgive my sarcasm but these overnight shifts have taken a toll on my patience.

However, I was given the opportunity to fill in the women's log today albeit with my co-worker dictating to me.

Adrienne Chisholm has lived with her family in Terrace, B.C. since 1992. She plans on continuing her studies at NWCC, and work toward an Associate of Arts Degree.

Brianna Gibson – CCSJ practicum 2011 student blog

shift 8
All I have to say is..... I WANT A BOAT!!!!!!!! Today the officers took me on the Skeena River on a river boat and I got to see a bunch of really cool cabins along the river. We also went up two side rivers, Kasiks and the Gitnadoink.

The views along the rivers were absolutely breathtaking, thousands of waterfalls, I dont thinkI said a total of 10 words all day because I was in absolute awe.
 
shift 9
Today was freaking amazing! I went out on the Douglas Channel up to the Gardner Canal on a prawn patrol out of Kitimat. We checked the vessels that had prawn traps out and I actually got to see them reel their traps in. I've never seen prawns so big in my life; I swear they were like 7 or 8 inches without the feelers.

These vessels were crazy, they had big coolers underneath of them and one vessel had over 7000 lbs of prawns on it. These fishermen sell the prawns in Japan for 7-8 dollars a pound... do the math. All of the vessels checked were very co-operative... I haven't seen anybody be non-compliant yet, but I'm hoping before the end of my practicum I get to see someone get busted.

Brianna Gibson is 23 years old and born and raised in Terrace. She plans to continue at NWCC this fall, going directly into the second year of the Associate Degree in Arts – Criminology Specialization.