Figuring out a career option is extremely important, as knowing what you want to do in life can influence what you study in high school, where you go in college, and how you build a plan for your future. I have always had a hard time figuring out what I want to do as a career so this job shadow project was really interesting for me.  

I contacted a family friend, James, to see about going on a ride along with him as he is a Police Officer with the Vancouver Police Department. 

There were plenty of other options that would have taken less time, and overall, would have been a lot easier to complete the project. However, I went with policing because it is something that has always interested me (my Grandfather was in the Police in the UK) and I was keen to put in the 12 hour, 1:00pm to 1:00am shift to experience the job.

I made sure to write down a few questions before going as that was the best way for me to find out more about the job. These included things like “what is the average day like?”, “what are the best and worst parts of the job?” and “how do the things you witness in the role affect you”? as I really wanted to get an idea as to whether or not it is something that would still appeal once I knew all the details.

When we started at 1:00pm on Saturday 24th August we went to the main VPD building and met the rest of James’ crew. There is a tradition where any new member needs to talk for 5 to sometimes 15 minutes straight about any topic, and if they pause then the squad will try to ask embarrassing questions to the presenter. So I talked about my life story for a bit and tried to cover as much as possible. I succeeded in constantly talking for the 5 minutes – no embarrassing questions – a total win!

After introductions and a shift handover discussion about priorities for the shift, we all left to go out and answer some calls. The very first one that we got to witness was helping an elderly lady get a cab home. She had been driving her scooter irresponsibly and was intoxicated, we waited with her while the cab took an hour to arrive!

After that was the coffee break. Everyone from the previous briefing met on top of a car park to drink coffee and talk about a variety of things for a bit longer. Most of the comments were jokes at the expense of other officers which demonstrated to me a sense of great camaraderie and a way to release stress. We were then sent to a house alarm going off which happened to be a false alarm. Apparently these are pretty common as the people who own the houses don’t live in Canada so there is no one to stop an alarm when it goes off accidentally. The rest of the night was spent cruising around and following up on some more interesting calls.

Staking out a prohibited driver

While we drove I managed to ask some questions. Here are the answers I got:

Q: What should I do if I want to become a police officer?

A: “Do what you want because you can do policing from every education, any degree works”

Q: What are some of the benefits of being a police officer?

A: “good pay, good time off, exciting work, great pension and great people.”

On our fifth call we responded to someone stealing a bike and after the excitement of catching the thief (who had a massive machete and a can of bear spray) I was even more convinced that this is what I wanted to do as a future career. While we waited for a car to come pick her up I was told in great detail all the information used in making an arrest. They did a really good job at educating me while also carrying out their responsibilities throughout the entire day.

The large machete and bear spray as well as some bike stealing tools

For the rest of the night until 1:00am we caught people driving while prohibited, doing drugs in places they shouldn’t, and we even shut down a party. All the while I got to listen to the friendly comedic banter that all the officers had with one another. Something that has really sold me on the job. The group I was with had such a tight bond and it was an amazing experience to be there. This job shadow put policing from one of my ‘maybe’ ideas, to the main thing that I want to do in life. They even gave me a route to take in order to get there; doing what I am passionate about at University and then taking a few years to try different careers before joining to get a sense of what its like to live a normal life so you don’t only know police work. 

I want to thank everyone who I was with on this job shadow. It was a great experience, one that has helped me to plan my future and my application in 2027!