WEEKEND PROFILE - JULIE POWROZNIK

Julie Powroznik became the first reserve constable of the Richmond
RCMP during a swearing-in ceremony on Thursday, and her return to the
Mounties is part of a new recruiting trend.

A province-wide labour shortage has also hit the RCMP, which despite
recruiting efforts is still seeking more people to don the red serge.
Plans call for up to 2,000 cadets to be trained as RCMP officers each
year for the next several years to fill in for retiring officers as
well as increasing demands for police service.

But rather than seeking just newbies, the RCMP is also reaching out to
those who retired for lifestyle reasons in hopes of drawing them back
into the fold by offering tailor-made work hours.

If Powroznik's name sounds familiar, that's because she's been working
for the local detachment since 2000, and retired last May after 17
years on the force to spend more time with her growing
elementary-school aged children.

But this week, she returned to active duty and will be working
part-time, perhaps just a day or two per week, focusing on the
anti-drug and alcohol educational program aimed at Richmond's Grade 5
students.

"The RCMP has the reserve program, and I thought that was a fantastic
opportunity to stay in touch with the RCMP and serve my community by
being involved in community events."

Powroznik has been with DARE, which stands for Drug Abuse Resistance
Education, since its inception in 2005, and hopes to see the program
expand in Richmond and to cities elsewhere in the Lower Mainland.

"It's a fantastic opportunity for us, as the police, to build some
assets with young people. Lots of people have an idea that the police
are scary, and to stay away from them, and that all we do is take bad
people to jail. But this gives kids a good opportunity to see us in a
very positive role model light."

If kids can see that police are not something to be afraid of,
Powroznik said "they can take that message back to their families too
because we have a lot of different cultures coming into
Richmond...they can take a message home that the police are good, the
police are here to help us."

In her new role, she will have the same responsibilities as regular
officers, but will effectively be on contract, filling in gaps, for
instance, when an officer transfers but a replacement hasn't yet arrived.

Powroznik went to high school in Delta before attending Kwantlen
College. Before deciding to follow in the footsteps of family--her
father was an RCMP officer and her great-grandfather was with the
Royal Northwest Mounted Police--she was a pharmacist's assistant.

As a 24-year-old, she decided to join the RCMP in 1990, and was posted
to K-division in Alberta for 10 years before coming to Richmond.

What is the DARE program?

"We focus on teaching (Grade 5 students) the facts and information
about alcohol, marijuana (and) we teach them decision making models,
ways to be in charge of a situation. It helps them have ways to deal
with a tough situation--smoking, drinking alcohol--and gives them some
ways to say no and just to be in charge of their own lives and their
own situation."

What kind of feedback are you getting from the children who have taken
the program?

"The kids love the DARE program. They love the information that
they're getting, they love having the attention of a police officer in
the classroom...Parents have come to me after graduation and say how
much their kids have learned, how they are influencing brothers and
sisters and themselves..."