| "It Felt Like Home" |
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I was born and raised in Kitchener, Ontario where I attended Conestoga College and studied Criminology. It was my goal to become a police officer, but circumstances got in the way, and I worked in the retail sector as a decorator for many years. I kept up my interest in the justice field with volunteer work in several areas and participated in related training courses during that time.
In 2005, I was working part time for the Nanaimo RCMP Victim Services Program as well as three other part time jobs. Consequently I was looking for a full time position, and hoping to move to the North Shore to be closer to my family in West Vancouver. Since Victim Services is my passion, I decided to apply to the two police departments on the North Shore although neither had advertised a position at the time. As soon as I walked in the front door of the West Vancouer Police Department, it felt like home, and low and behold, the following week I learned the current Program Manager had given notice and the job was posted.
As Program Manager I am responsible for the day to day running of the section which includes providing direct support services to crime and trauma victims and witnesses, crisis intervention, as well as follow-up and court support services. The administrative responsibilities include completing Victim Service intake forms on all files referred by members of the Department and files that I select as requiring follow-up, reviewing the files when contact with clients has been made, liaising with police officers, court personnel, and representatives of supporting agencies, and attending meetings on related issues as required. Recruiting, training, coordinating, and managing the volunteers is always a very large part of my duties.
Since working with the West Vancouver Police Department, I have discovered that each Victim Service Program must gear its focus to the community’s specific needs, that one program description does not fit all. It is also important to keep a close relationship with the members to reinforce that Victim Services is an integral part of the operation of the whole Department. We are fortunate at the West Vancouver Police Department to be a relatively small Department and can forge great interpersonal relationships which tend to build respect for the demands of the job each of us has to do.
The most useful attributes one can possess for doing this work are a passion for helping others in need, an ability to work effectively as part of a team as well as independently, and a healthy sense of humour.
Victim Services Program Manager, 3 years |