A new class of trained Fish and Wildlife and Conservation Officers graduated from four months of specialized programming at Lac La Biche’s Law Enforcement Training Centre on Sept. 5.
The 30 graduating members of ‘Troop 26’ at the Western Conservation Law Enforcement Academy (WCLEA) in Lac La Biche were recognized at a special ceremony held at Lac La Biche’s Bold Center in front of family members and friends. The graduates came to Lac La Biche for their training from communities across western Canada, including Manitoba and the Yukon.
The event began with a troop inspection of the members, all in their dress formals of their home provinces and territories. After speeches by dignitaries, the graduates went up one by one to receive their badges.
Supt. Trevor Miller of Alberta Fish and Wildlife, who is also a member of the WCLEA steering committee, said during the time they spend at the academy, recruits learn a variety of skills, including firearm training, defensive and control tactics, boat safety, as well as investigation procedures.
Miller continued by saying that this training sets the stage with regards for what they will be doing in their careers.
One example of this, he said, is the chemical immobilization course, which teaches future fish and wildfire and conservation officers how to safety immobilize and capture animals.
According to Miller, upon graduation, most WCLEA graduates return to their home provinces to work. During their first year or so, he explained, new officers are teamed up with a field training officer where they receive a considerable amount of on-the-job training.
“Most provinces have a pretty robust field training component,” Miller told Lakeland This Week. “Our field training program is set to about a year before they can really independently go out and work and take on all the challenges of the profession.”
Amongst the recruits who successfully completed the program are Calvin Rochon of Squamish, B.C. and Tova Jacobsen from southern Alberta.
For Rochon, going through the training program at WCLEA and getting to know the community of Lac La Biche for the past four and a half months has been a very rewarding experience.
“It was amazing, honestly,” he said, adding that his troopmates and instructors have been very supportive during his time at the academy.
Rochon, standing in the Bold Center fieldhouse shortly before the start of the event wearing the crisp, dark-blue dress uniform of the British Columbia Conservation Officer Service, stated that it was a long road involving four and half months of intensive training to get to his graduation ceremony.
As far as the training itself is concerned, Rochon said he enjoyed the team-building and group mentality that was shared amongst the recruits. There was also plenty of hands-on training that he liked while at WCLEA, like shooting, along with learning defensive driving and the physical fitness component of the program.
For Jacobson, one of the best aspects of the program was learning a variety of skills and techniques that she-and her troopmates-will soon be applying in the field as officers.
“WCLEA has been an experience and an adventure for all of us…we were able to do a lot of training…learn a lot of things…meet a lot of new people, and build friendships,” she stated.
Each year, fish and wildfire officer recruits from across Western Canada arrive in Lac La Biche for the 18-week program offered by the Western Conservation Law Enforcement Academy (WCLEA).
Many of the instructors at the academy are active fish and wildlife officers who teach a variety of skills to recruits, including emergency vehicle and boat operation, firearms, self-defence, swift water rescue, water safety, and physical conditioning.
Upon successful completion of the program, fish and wildlife officers receive 12 months of on-the-job training under the direction of a field training officer.
According to the government of Alberta, the process of becoming a fish and wildlife officer recruit includes successfully completing the Physical Abilities Requirement Evaluation (PARE) test, doing interviews, and undergoing psychological tests and background checks.
