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Highlights
How much and how often do you work?
In this position, I work Monday to Friday (8:00-16:00hrs.) I have a Blackberry cell phone and I will take calls outside these hours on occasions.
How does your job influence your home life?
Quite of bit! Over the years, I was exposed to many accidents, deaths and investigations that shaped my journey through life. It definitely affected my family on occasions for example after I came back from an accident where kids were involved. I found myself to be over protective of my kids on occasions and totally detached on other occasions. But I have also over the years got some counselling which gave me tools to deal with past and present events.
Describe yourself in three words or one sentence.
Honest, humble and hard working.
Where/ what did you study? What kind of education do you need to be a detective?
Experience and understanding of Domestic Violence (DV) was my ticket to this job. I joined the RCMP when I was 22 years old and was one year short of finishing my University degree in Education. I never finished it
.
What did you do before you became a detective?
I worked in various detachments as a general duty constable (Hanna, Canmore, Cochrane, Bassano) I was transferred to Ottawa between 2004 and 2008 to be an Air Marshall. I was promoted as a detachment supervisor in 2009 in Gleichen. I worked as the detachment commander of the Vulcan RCMP detachment in 2014 for a period of one year. I then transferred to the Cochrane RCMP before becoming the southern Alberta Domestic Violence Coordinator (Detective as you call it) .
Are the scientific techniques on TV similar to the real thing?
No, some are realistic but it takes days to obtain warrants to search a phone or a computer for example.
Do you feel pity for the victims of your cases? Have you ever not felt pity? Do you have some examples?
I can’t give examples but I feel for victims of DV. I find it hard when kids are involved. I usually go home at the end of the day and hug my kids for no reason. They find me weird.
Have you ever felt pity for any of the perpetrators? Do you have some examples?
No examples but sometimes when I look into their past history, I realized that some perpetrators are stuck in a vicious circle and they are repeating what was done to them years earlier.
Why do you think being a detective is important?
Because some cases need more attentions than others. We have investigators, detectives that have some kind of an expertise, dedicated time and a true desire to solve a case.
talk time
CJ Bertsch interviews Officer Pascal Richard of the RCMP Domestic Violence Task Force
Click the mic to listen