Fresh out of the RCMP's police academy in Regina, Sask., Const. Tracy Young is eager to put her training to good use.
The 28-year-old Newfoundlander is the RCMP's newest recruit and brings Jasper's total police force to seven officers.
“It's always been a childhood dream,” said Young about becoming a police officer.
The transition from the academy to the police force has been swift. She graduated from the “Depot”—the RCMP's national training academy—on June 29, before being posted to Parliament Hill for two months over the summer. She arrived in Jasper in late August and started work Sept. 2.
Since then she has been working closely with Const. Scott Kirychuk who is her field coach. He will be supervising and training her for the next two months.
“After that I'm on my own, but I can still turn to him if I have any questions,” she said, explaining she is in the field coach program for the next six months.
Prior to joining the RCMP, Young studied linguistics at Memorial University, in St. John's, Nfld. and graduated in 2009.
“After I graduated I realized it wasn't what I wanted. I still had that longing to go back to the police world, because I had done a bit of security work when I was growing up, so I was always drawn to that,” she said.
She thought about joining the Royal Newfoundland Constabulary (RNC), but wanted to broaden her horizons and try something a bit further afield.
“I like travelling and exploring and with the RNC I was going to be stuck forever, so I figured the RCMP would give me a lot more opportunities.”
Young first applied to join the RCMP in 2010, but soon after applying she injured her knee and required surgery. As a result, her application was put on hold.
“I was about halfway through the process and they had to put it on hold until I could figure out what was going on,” she said.
After finding out it would be a year before she could have surgery, she had to cancel her application and apply again.
Five years later, she is now in Jasper eager to do her part. Outside of work she said she is a big gamer and enjoys reading. She also plays guitar and said she is looking forward to getting active again.
Paul Clarke [email protected]
