To kick off this new feature, Const. Maury Tyre thought he’d start with himself: “It seemed only reasonable as I was the one to think, hey what a great idea. If it totally failed and fell on its nose, then it would be me falling on my own nose (See attached photo for what that looks like).”
Growing up in a small town, there were always little articles about the Mounties that transferred in and out and where they were from and a few other tidbits about them to help the community feel like these police were “our” police.
One of the things I realized pretty quickly about Campbell River was it’s on the verge of being a large town but it still very much appreciates its small-town roots, so a bit of a small-town touch for its police force seemed to make sense
I’m a B.C. boy, born and raised. After growing up on skates and a motorbike in 100 Mile House, I went to high school in Nanaimo, university in Vancouver, lived and worked near Bella Bella, lived and worked in Bella Coola and joined the RCMP out of Bella Coola at the tender age of 37, leaving my wife and three-year-old son for six months while I trained in Regina (I still owe her for that).
I’ve done more jobs than I can remember, McDonalds, Starbucks manager, fry cook, bike mechanic, social worker, education assistant, bar manager, reserve soldier and wildfire firefighter. And for a little added spice, I was a professional theatre artist in Vancouver for several years.
One thing is for certain though, skills learned at each of those jobs have paid dividends in my seven years as an RCMP officer. Those jobs offered a slice of life and experience that have allowed me to be a little more understanding when I’m dealing with people who are having a bad day, week, month, etc.
For me, community-based policing and initiatives is what I feel I can bring to the table in Campbell River. For the three years prior to coming to Campbell River, I spent most of my time working in the Central Coast village of Klemtu.
With communication between the police and the community, great initiatives and events could be planned and people took ownership of the RCMP members, as their police.