National Vice-President Lynette Robinson and three Detachment Assistants from J Division held a virtual meeting with Assistant Commissioner DeAnna Hill to discuss the Ricciardelli report on DSA mental health.
Angie Leblanc from the Caledonia detachment, Tracey Jenkins from Tobique and Sarah Greenland from Grand Manan took part in a thorough review of the most important topics: onboarding training, mental health and improvements to physical safety. DSA Jenkins could speak of the Tobique detachment’s bullet proof renovations following an incident involving firearms there in 2018.
As a result of this meeting, Assistant CO Hill committed to seeing through several positive changes. Those included the standardizing of criminal record checks in the division, a review of safety plans and the setting up of regular sessions with DSAs to facilitate the voicing of recommendations.
DSA Sarah Greenland also sits on the Joint Mental Health Committee which deals with mental health supports for members. Currently, not a single special support mechanism has been created or made available specifically for DSAs or other public service employees in the RCMP.
National Vice-President Robinson’s outreach campaign to COs across the Atlantic region is on-going.