Edmonton, Alberta (UPI) - The Royal Canadian Mounted Police says its waiting list for recruits has dried up, and is easing some requirements and adding perks for would-be Mounties.
Deputy Commissioner Rod Knecht told the Calgary Sun the list of potential Mounties has traditionally run as high as 8,000 people.
“But now we find the waiting list totally exhausted,” he said.
The force has made several changes recently to address the shortage of recruits, including easing the policy of giving priority to applicants with university degrees along with a pay increase for first-class constables to $74,539 a year.
Most significant is the change in the force’s 135-year-old policy of not paying cadets while they undergo 24 weeks of training.
For at least the next two years, cadets will receive $500 per week, the force announced recently.
The Sun said Alberta is now short 512 RCMP officers, but Knecht said that shortage wasn’t likely to be filled in the short-term.
2 responses so far ↓
1 RCMP Watch // Jul 4, 2008 at 21:54
Quote from the article: “Most significant is the change in the force’s 135-year-old policy of not paying cadets while they undergo 24 weeks of training.”
This is not factual. I don’t know when the practice started but the RCMP hired members as full time employees and paid them a full salary while they were training in Depot. With more applicants then they could take, they stopped the practice some 20 years ago as a cost cutting measure. They are now feeling the pain, but it may be too little too late.
2 Deepthroat // Jul 5, 2008 at 03:11
If the old posters are to be believed, from the days of the NWMP, pay was there albeit not substantial. The genius trust that decided on the slowdown and then closure of the Regina training facility showed unbelievable shortsightedness even in the face of traditional attrition figures of 600 to 800 per year. Coupled with baby boomer ages, the result was a disaster. Yet the performance bonus was still paid.
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