RCMP offers sneak peek at Depot

The RCMP marked its 150th anniversary this year by showing off some of its newest training facilities in a rare behind-the-scenes tour around Regina’s Depot Division — the RCMP’s national training centre for cadets.

“We’re so happy to be welcoming people to the grounds during our training hours so they have an idea as to how Depot has changed (and) how our training has changed over the years,” said Chief Supt. Sylvie Bourassa-Muise, Depot’s 59th commanding officer.

Bourassa-Muise spoke highly of the new integrated training facilities, including the simulated training cadets are expected to go through.

“As far as skills are concerned, when you consider the simulation itself — simulation on firearms (and) simulation on driving are our two biggest areas — this is not just an economy of scales or you’re not using as much equipment and as much real estate for it,” she said.

“But it also integrates scenario-based training so you’re able to hone in on those (skills) and make training as realistic as possible in a very small, constrained area.”

Sgt. Earl LeBlanc is in charge of Depot’s driving unit. On Thursday, he oversaw cars cruising through the outdoor track.

“Our job is not to teach cadets how to drive; they already know how to drive. What we do is we teach them to transition (from being) a civilian driver to a police driver,” LeBlanc said.

LeBlanc said cadets are taught to drive in a safe and legal manner, but there is also an advanced track where advanced skills are taught.

“We’re the only training facility in Canada that has a 4×4 course where we teach them every component of what they could experience driving (in) any part of Canada,” LeBlanc said.

Also on the tour was a walk-through of the RCMP’s 100-metre firing range.

It opened in 2020, and Sgt. Mike Bourque said its ventilation and target system is state of the art.

Bourque said when Depot is at full capacity, it can train 1,500 to 1,800 cadets a year.

“In addition to the three firearms range that we have here, we also have three synthetic ranges scattered throughout the building,” Bourque said.

The benefit of the synthetic ranges is that it saves the time of reloading and unloading, in addition to saving on ammo, according to Bourque.

“For comparison’s sake, every year we fire off about four  million rounds of ammunition in the training academy,” Bourque said.

The tour also took reporters to a new virtual simulation room. It’s designed to help cadets with their judgment in high-stress scenarios.

Cpl. Julie Gardiner provided a demonstration of interacting with a scenario.

“What we do is we allow the cadets to experience high-risk situations in a relatively low-risk environment,” Gardiner said.

“We allow them to make mistakes if they’re going to make mistakes because we would rather them make mistakes here where everything is simulated rather than out in the field.”

In March, the future of Depot was thrown into doubt when the final report from the public inquiry into the 2020 mass shooting in Nova Scotia was released.

One of the report’s recommendations involved closing Depot and replacing it with a Canadian Police College.

That recommendation sparked an outcry from three Regina MPs, Mayor Sandra Masters and the provincial government.