"I'm extremely proud of them," says Winkler police chief on recently graduated constables

After nine months of training, the two newest constables to join the Winkler Police Service (WPS) graduated from the Winnipeg police academy earlier this month.
    
The process to hire two new constables began early in 2023. Winkler Police Chief Ryan Hunt said they received several applicants at the time, and following a long process, including various tests, they selected "the best two" individuals from the group.

Jadyn Martens and Arlen Thiessen, graduated from the Winnipeg Police Academy with a Winnipeg Police Service recruit class on May 17th.

"I'm extremely proud of them," exclaimed Chief Hunt. "They've done a fantastic job during their training period, both in Winnipeg and out here (in Winkler) for field training"

Hunt said he's proud of the work Thiessen and Martens put in. He said it's not an easy job to get through the training.  "It's pretty grueling. There's a lot to it, a lot to learn, and they just did a fantastic job." 

"I also want to speak to and acknowledge our field training officers. We had four field training officers who worked with them here for four months. I'm thankful they're willing to share their knowledge with new members."

Field Training Officers:
Cst. Kendra Neufeld
Cst. Travis Krahn
Cst. Max Tschuschba 
Cst. Anthony Dueck

With their Field training officers, Jadyn Martens and Arlen Thiessen graduated along with Winnipeg Police Service Recruit Class # 169 on May 17th. (Photo courtesy of the WPS Facebook page)

"With the new persons that we've hired, they're fantastic people. They've come out of the community, and grown up in the community."

"I think with all of the officers that we've hired recently. it puts the City of Winkler Police Service in a good position for many years. We're adding members as the city grows, but we're also anticipating potentially there's going to be retirements on the horizon. So we want to ensure we're in a good position to weather through that."

The Winkler Police Service has 22 members, including Chief Ryan Hunt, and Deputy Chief Chris Kalansky. There are four patrol sergeants and sixteen constables.

Winkler Police Service members also have training in some specialty units. "We have a member trained in all aspects of forensic identification, fingerprinting, and DNA. We have a K-9 officer who takes care of our Juno. Then we have officers specializing in Use of Force training. De-escalation training, and taser training."

WPS also has members on the Regional Support Tactical Team along with Morden and Altona members.

"We have our members on the Regional Crisis Negotiation Unit, along with Altona and Morden as well."

Tash Olfert heads the department's Victim Services Unit.  This unit provides services to victims of crime for Altona, Morden, and Winkler. Victim Services helps victims understand and walk through the court process and assists with organizing counseling if necessary.