 Good morning everybody, members of the Vancouver Police Department, friends and family, and our newest members of the VPD from Class 161. You know there's many special events that I attend as Chief Constable, but perhaps the most important event I attend is this one, and the graduation. This is an important day in the lives of all the recruits. It's a day that they will always remember because not only is it important for them and their family, but it's important to the history of our police department. Our history dates back 133 years to 1886, and it's a proud history, and we love policing this world-class city. Because today you're not just becoming police officers, you're becoming Vancouver police officers, and you now are part of that history as well. And it's important that we do it in a place of honor as we stand here today in our gravely atrium where we pay respect to our 16 fallen officers who passed in the line of duty. While you represent part of that history now, I will tell you that it always stays with you. And whether you retired 30 years ago, or you have 30 years of history with this department, or you're going to be retiring 30 years from now, like you will in probably the era around 2050, which is hard to believe as we stand here in 2019. Today I handed you your badge, and with that badge comes a great responsibility. I know that you will take it home, and you're going to show it to your parents and your boyfriends and girlfriends and husbands and wives, and look at it in the mirror, and it looks really cool, which it is. But just remember, with that badge comes a lot of responsibility. And I think when people see policing on television, they think about use of force, and high-speed chases, and shootouts, and those sorts of things. And while sometimes those things are part of policing, and we do have extraordinary powers of use of force, we always use that judiciously. And we always use our interpersonal skills and try and be calm to a chaotic situation and bring things back to order when things are out of order. And that's what we do very well in this department. And it's also important as a new officer to think about that intersection between law enforcement and social issues, because only about a quarter to one-third of the calls that you're going to attend as a police officer will actually be law enforcement issues. It's about the broader picture of public safety. And you're going to deal with people who come from very different backgrounds than you have, and have very different experiences in their lives. And people that are suffering from homelessness, poverty, addiction issues, alcoholism, mental health issues, and people that have experiences in their lives that will be hard for you to relate to as a new police officer. And we're going to have you make tough decisions, because sometimes you're going to be dealing with hardcore criminals, who are committing violent crime in our communities. And sometimes those decisions are a little bit easier. But when you're dealing with people that are marginalized and come from a tough way of life and are on the fringes of criminality, but really we're dealing with the social aspects of it, those are not black and white decisions, life is full of color. And they're very difficult decisions that you're going to be facing. Just looking recently in the media at some of the things you're all familiar with, like Oppenheimer Park, those are very challenging issues for society and for our officers to deal with. And our officers do an incredible job down there every day, under very, very difficult situations. But I think it's always important to remember that while you're doing this tough work, and you're going to be under a lot of scrutiny and oversight, which is the nature of our business, you'll make a huge difference in people's lives. And it's a very rewarding career and you will have an impact on people that's hard to describe until you've experienced it. But when you talk to other police officers who are serving, they will tell you how rewarding it is, not just making the bigger rests, but the impact and those little micro-impacts that you will have on people's lives on a daily basis. And I want you to remember our values of the Vancouver Police Department, of integrity, compassion, accountability, respect and excellence. And I want you to think about compassion and just remember that the mark of a good person in my mind is how you treat somebody that's less fortunate than you are. And that respect and compassion is not just outside to the public, but also inward facing in our organization. And it's important that we have a healthy and respectful organization, look out for one another and take care of each other. You know, I tell you, I see calls every single day about the amazing work that our officers do, that sometimes the public doesn't hear about. Our officers do heroic work all the time, going into dangerous situations, dealing with explosive devices, jumping into water, saving people that are drowning and all these incredible things that the public doesn't always realize that VPD officers do every single day. To all the officers standing here from class 161, I will tell you that you don't realize it now, but you will develop an amazing bond and friendship with the people from your academy class. And no matter where your career takes you, as a patrol officer, if you end up working under cover, on horseback, on a motorcycle, as a detective, as a supervisor, wherever your career takes you, 25 or 30 years from now, when you come across members of your academy class, you will still have a tight bond and that connection that will bind you for life. As you embark today on a career on the front seat of a roller coaster, you're going to experience things in life that other people will never see. I guarantee you that in your career, you're going to save people's lives, you're going to arrest dangerous criminals, you're going to arrest bank robbers, sexual predators, you're going to be involved in vehicle pursuits, you're going to rescue women from domestic violence, you're going to deal with members from outlaw motorcycle gangs like the Hell's Angels, you're going to put yourself in harm's way to protect a citizen or another police officer that you have never met before. And all of these men and women standing around you at the back of the room today, if you call for cover at three o'clock in the morning in East Van because you need help, these officers may not know who you are, but they will drop everything they're doing and come and assist you in your time of need. Because while others are running away from danger and difficult situations, our officers are heading right into it to keep our communities safe. But it's not just about the criminality and those types of issues that we're going to deal with. All the other things you're going to deal with that you may not think about when you become a police officer, you're going to be dealing with frantic mums who are hysterical because their toddler has walked away in Stanley Park and you're going to attend and you're going to console that mother and you're going to find her young child. You're going to deal with troubled youth who are at that intersection in their life where you have to make a decision is it better to arrest this kid and put them in jail or is it better to take into account the totality, the circumstances that this kid is facing in their life and come up with an alternate means to deal with that situation. You're going to find people suffering from dementia, Alzheimer's, Parkinson's disease that have walked away and are wandering and are cold and scared and lost. And that warm touch on their shoulder is going to be you telling them that it's okay and you're going to take them back to their family. Dealing with people in crisis will become a regular part of your job and you will be the only person that somebody in crisis has to turn to on what can easily be the worst day of their life. But those small moments that you deal with those calls which will be one of thousands of calls that you will attend will make a difference and impact you and that person potentially for the rest of your life. And the new challenges that you face as a police officer in 2019 are very different than some of the senior officers when we came on and some of the retired officers before us faced when we started policing. Talk now of counter-terrorism and national security issues are commonplace. Dealing with fentanyl, cyber crime, cryptocurrency, things that didn't exist when we came on a generation before are commonplace now that you will deal with. But I'll tell you right now we're not going to shy away from any of these challenges. We're going to tackle them head on because society depends on us and they count on us and our officers are fit, they're smart, they're well trained and well equipped professional police officers and here in Vancouver we are well positioned to take on anything that society can throw at us and we're going to keep this city safe. And the men and women that you see standing before you are the sons and daughters of our country that will keep Canadian safe. While some of the stuff that you're doing sounds daunting and it is a serious job I'll tell you 100% it's the best job in the world and this is something that you want to do and you're wired that way there's no job like it. I've been doing it for over 30 years and I would do it again in a heartbeat without thinking twice about it. To all the family and friends that are here today I want to welcome you to the Vancouver Police Department family. I will tell you that your loved ones have gone through a very very vigorous process and we receive hundreds and hundreds and hundreds of applications of people that want to be members of our police department. I believe at the last information session alone we had 140 people show up and we have one of those sessions every single month. We have vast vast volumes as well as dozens of officers from other police departments trying to come here as experienced officers but we're very select about who we take into our ranks. What these officers need from you now is your continued understanding, your love and your support and I always think it's important to remember to keep some of your outside interests because as a young officer it can be easy to be encompassed with policing 24-7 and that's all you think about but keeping those those friends and other things that interested you before you came on the job are important to keep you grounded but it can't overstate the importance of family support as well as work support to keep them grounded and balanced in their lives. My promise to you is that I will provide them with strong leadership not just at the executive level but throughout the organization and we have great sergeants on the road and senior constables who will help guide them the way. We'll provide them leadership, training, the best equipment and we're going to provide them support on those tough calls so that we keep them not only physically fit but mentally fit as they attend situations and are exposed to things that they've never seen before. When I look at the qualifications of these young members coming in with their education, the language skills, the diversity, the sports, martial arts, social arts backgrounds, volunteerism, fundraising, working in community, big brothers, food bank, like all that type of work is incredible and also the work experience they bring and I think it's just important to recognize in this class that not only do we have people that were special municipal constables, people from the military, CBSA corrections, e-comm and other police related entities but we have people in this group that are lawyers, registered nurses, a chartered accountant and electrician, people with very different backgrounds and different walks of life and people that come with different skills but that's the one thing I love about our department is that we're not all just pigeonholed coming from one type of background, we have a variety of experience and life experience that makes us richer and well-rounded as we take on policing in 2019 in our city. Ladies and gentlemen, congratulations to class 161. Thank you.