The Moose Jaw Police Service added two new constables to its ranks on July 24, increasing the size of the service by two new positions.
The swearing-in ceremony remained small, to comply with the ongoing pandemic concerns, with only a handful of officials and guests present to witness new officers Cesar Suarez and Anureet Kaur take the oath of police, code of ethics, and oath of secrecy.
Judge Brian Hendrickson oversaw the oaths, alongside MJPS Chief Rick Bourassa and a small number of friends and family.
Bourassa was pleased to welcome Suarez and Kaur to the service, explaining that the MJPS selects recruits based on more than skillsets.
“We really look for character and integrity [because] we can work on the skills, teach those skills. That’s the easy part of this,” said Bourassa. “We go through a really rigorous process and what happens during that process is we identify the people that would be a good fit for our community.”
Kaur comes to the MJPS after immigrating to Canada at 19 years old, first living in Toronto before settling in Saskatchewan and deciding to pursue a career in policing.
“I’ve been in Saskatchewan for four years and the plan was to go back to Toronto (but) I just fell in love with Saskatchewan and now it’s home,” said Kaur. “Canada has been a home to me and it welcomed me so well, so I want to give back to the community and help other immigrants feel accepted, that this country is welcoming.”
She will be the tenth female constable in the MJPS, and she is looking forward to serving her community both as an MJPS member and as a role model to help build trust within the community.
“(I want to) help other people, other immigrants, to see that they can do anything. If I can do this, they can do this too,” said Kaur. “If they see someone looking like them (in uniform), I want to be an inspiration for them (and as a female police officer) I am up for that challenge.”
Suarez came to Canada from Mexico, settling first in Regina before deciding to answer the MJPS call for recruits.
“I’ve lived in Regina for about seven years now, [and] when we moved here, it was time for me to grow some roots and step up and follow my dreams,” said Suarez. “This is my calling, and this is what I’m meant to be [and] this is my opportunity to give back to the community and be part of the community.”
After considering both the Regina and Moose Jaw Police services, Suarez chose Moose Jaw and is looking forward to offering his service to the city.
“Moose Jaw is a beautiful community and everybody’s friendly here, and I think that’s where I belong,” said Suarez. “And it’s very important for me to represent not only my country, but my family and Canada, and be here to help.”
During the ceremony, Bourassa also spoke about the importance of diversity in the MJPS, as he welcomed both Kaur and Suarez to the service.
“We live in such a diverse country, such a diverse province, such a diverse city, that to have a police service that’s representative of that diversity is really fundamentally important to us. We have to connect with the people in our community and we do that best by reflecting our community,” said Bourassa. “We should look like our community, that’s the way it should be, and we’ve got a ways to go but we’re on that path and we will stay on that path.”
Bourassa has spoken often about being dedicated to expanding representation in the MJPS, including increasing the female representation and Indigenous representation in members.
“Even the value in specific incidents or calls to service where we can have [a member] connect with someone in their home language, or have the experience of a shared background, that has proven very valuable to us, so we're going to continue this as a police force,” said Bourassa.
The two new constables are stepping into positions that became vacant after provincial funding created a new position on the Police and Crisis Team and a new position created by the Board of Police Commissioners. Bourassa said the MJPS is continuing to recruit new members and expects to add a few more early next year.
Kaur and Suarez will now head to Regina to attend the Saskatchewan Police College, before returning to Moose Jaw and beginning their probationary periods on patrol with another MJPS member.
If the pandemic forces the college to close before their training period is complete, Kaur and Suarez will return to Moose Jaw and undergo in-house administrative training until the college resumes.
