New police officers welcomed to the Barrie Police Service

Today the Barrie Police Service (BPS) welcomed fourteen new recruits in a graduation ceremony held at Mapleview Community Church.

The recruits, many of whom have already served as Special Constables with BPS, spent 12 weeks at the Ontario Police College, before returning to the Barrie Police Service Training Unit for additional sessions on everything from practical skills, scenario based learning, de-escalation tactics, human trafficking and racial trauma training.

On their first day as police officers, they will spend the day travelling across the city to meet with representatives from community organizations and service agencies. They will then return to BPS headquarters to meet Mayor Alex Nuttall and members of Council, before attending an open house where they will meet with community-based support services and agencies. The officers will have a chance to learn about the services offered by each agency and how they as police officers can work with each of the partners to support our community.

Officers will also learn more about services offered by BPS such as the Vulnerable Person Registry, Project Lifesaver, the Crisis Outreach And Support Team (COAST) and the Mobile Crisis Response Team (MCRT); and internal volunteer opportunities such as the Equity, Diversity and Inclusion Committee, the Special Olympics committee, and the Peer Support Team.

As of Thursday, January 12^th, you may see these new officers on the road in our community, as they join their front-line platoons, partnered with a coach officer for 12 weeks.

These 14 individuals come from a variety of backgrounds, educational experiences and working environments. They’ve all given back to their communities through extensive volunteer work, including organizing food drives, providing moving services to women and children fleeing abuse, coaching soccer for the Community Living Association and Special Olympics and serving as a volunteer firefighter. One thing they all have in common, is their commitment our community and the people of Barrie.

Today’s recruit class was the largest in the history of the Barrie Police Service and helped to replace vacancies left with the higher than usual number of retirements the Service has experienced recently. The Barrie Police Service proudly welcomes all the new recruits to our Service.