Denys Scully, a retired police officer, took a photo of a local RCMP member in an encounter with an unknown person in Cranbrook.
“I don’t know what the situation was,” Scully said. “But being a retired officer myself I was struck by what appeared to me to be a sight the public does not always take note of.”
Scully wrote in an email that the officer appears to be dealing with this man either due to a call from the public or just as a proactive “street check.” He noted that while investigating, the officer showed “officer safety” by keeping some distance from the man but also showed his “humanity” and caring for him by just sitting with him and making him feel relaxed.
Body language and “presence” speak a great deal.
“All too often I believe the public is not given a chance to see how often the police actually show compassion or deal with subjects as people and not as objects of suspicion or arrest,” Scully wrote. “Eyes are on the police from all over these days — often only critical eyes.
But in my opinion this officer shows why most join up, to serve and to help by going to places, at times, and in ways most do not want or have to.”
Scully added that policing is a noble vocation. “And I think this officer articulates this in a very visual way.”