Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Canada Canadians don't need no stinking badges??

Well sir, if you choose to live in the dump you do, that is a choice with which you will need to live. As for me and my house, we will choose the country represented by your very admirable photographs.

Randy

The cops with no sidearms you saw in Pincher Creek may have been RCMP Auxiliary members. They are volunteers, no sidearms. I was a regular member until Sept. 2008, retired, then went back as a Reservist. I still work armed, though. I would never work as a uniformed police officer unless I was armed. Simple as that.

kjohn;
Welcome to the 'Fire from the south Okanagan.

I hadn't thought of auxiliaries until you mentioned them, but you could be correct.

They used to allow them to be armed here in BC, but they stuck with a Model 10 HB .38 Spl. if I recall right, even after the regular members had switched to the 9mm auto.

For some reason the decision came down to disarm them, perhaps 10 years back now and many of the more tenured auxiliaries quit at that point. According to a couple former auxiliaries and some retired members that I know quite well, many took the same viewpoint as you do about being armed when in uniform.

As a sad example, the constable that was shot in Russell a few years back, Cst. Dennis Strongquill, pretty much proved that isn't an unfounded concern either in my view.

As a by the way, my wife is from Russell and we used to farm east of Yorkton where I grew up, so I'm not too unfamiliar with some of eastern Saskatchewan though admittedly it has changed since we left there 26 years ago.

Have a good week and again welcome to the 'Fire.

Regards,
Dwayne

Yes Sir. Welcome to the fire from another retired police officer - since the end of 2001. If I were to don the uniform again, there would be a full gamut of use of force equipment to go with it.

Thanks fellas, for the welcome. I was on my first day of a Christmas holiday when Dennis was killed. I also know the fellow whose truck they stole from the Dubuc area. He told me that, for some reason, his wife suggested that they go to the lake for the night. He agreed, and away they went. Had they stayed at home, they may well have in serious jeopardy at the hands of the scum that killed the member.

AndyG, it sure looks to me like the fishing would be much better in Ontario than around yo' residence. Just guessing....

I have been out so long, things have changed so much, but we used to carry our badge with our warrant card in our pocket, and our regular OPP badge with no number showing on our hats. If asked, and I never was, we showed it and gave our badge number to the person. I never worked plainclothes so cannot comment. And I always carried my badge, always. Glad to NOT be in police work today. We were respected.

Where did ya serve Donald, and how long ya been gone? I left the end of December 2001. Appointed 04 Oct 71.

I was at Wawa, Alban (French River) and Lindsay, Coboconk, always rural or semi rural, a lot of First Nations, then headquarters, back then it was on Lakeshore Drive (Toronto)

I spent my time all in Thunder Bay and Kenora Districts. The further I could stay away from GHQ the better I liked it. We probably know some of the same people from Wawa, Lindsay and Coboconk. Enjoy your retirement, friend.

Ye gods... Photoshop out the car and it could be London during the Blitz. Maybe WC Fields has been misquoted and what he really said was, "All things considered, I rather be in Northwestern Ontario." (Or maybe here in B.C.)

Stuart

Kenora?
hey shootist, ever meet a chief crown name of Don Mackenzie?
Cat

Pleased ot extend my fellowship and any appropriate ball busting to the Canuckian Contingent of Retarded Officers I've been retarded since 2004 and enjoy it greatly. Illegitimus non carborundum est!!!

Cat,

I think Mr McKenzie was a Judge the last I heard, but he has been deceased for quite some time, if it is the same man. He was a real outdoorsman and shooter. He once said, "The most important accesory a man should buy for a firearm is a car load of ammunition." Probably agree with that assessment.

THAT'S HIM!!
he was a very good friend of the family, My father and i hunted with him ad his son Dan,once.
Mr. Mackenzie's wife was a heckuva hunteress as well, they went to Africa a few times .
I remember a photo of Mrs. mackenzie sitting on a rhino that she had Whollopped!
Mr. Mackenzie died of Luekemia, he went into remittance for years, but even up to his death , Dad said he was planning yet another grouse hunt in Scotland. it was what kept him going, Dad said.
Cat

[quote=the_shootist]Cat,

I think Mr McKenzie was a Judge the last I heard, but he has been deceased for quite some time, if it is the same man. He was a real outdoorsman and shooter. He once said, "The most important accesory a man should buy for a firearm is a car load of ammunition." Probably agree with that assessment. [/quote
or tons of bullets and powder and the ability to roll your own.

Actually shot with Mr McKenzie on the line in Kenora a couple times. He was a very competitive shooter, and quick to offer advice and help. He lent me a madazine for a Browning pistol in one heat that we were shooting against each other. It was rumoured he was an exceptional shotgunner, but I never had occasion to witness that.

Randy

Yes, he was a heckuva shotgunner!
A very gracious man, and his wife , son, and daughter were the same.
Cat

Just a quick comment from my perspective. The "badge" or more appropriately the shield is tradition hear in the U.S. and is worn on the left side over the heart which I know is anatomically incorrect. And as far as the hat goes we are required to wear it just as it is worn customarily in the military as my department is considered a para-military organization. Also studies have allegedly found that an officer wearing a hat is given more respect than one that doesn't just like a tie. According to statistics and you can take that how you like. Hats are fine and identify you as an authority figure during the routine daily grind but I assure you when it hits the fan the hat is left in the car. There is nothing tactical about it and in fact it acts like a target in a tactical situation.

The responses to this thread got me to wondering what about the Britts do they wear badges? I found the same as I found on my Canadian internet search. They don't appear to wear badges, with the exception to cap/helmet badges. Which I also found has a quite a history and significance. But it looks to me the Canadian police continued the uniform traditions of the Britt's and don't have badges like we are accustomed to down here. So that leads me to the question, what to the French do? CH