This is the shoulder patch RCMP auxiliary officers will be wearing.

Image Credit: Submitted/RCMP

Last week, Kelowna’s top cop told Kelowna city council that the long-dormant auxiliary police program is returning.

But that seems to be news to the provincial government.

“The auxiliary program has been re-enacted by the province, which is phenomenal news, and our division continues to work with national to roll out that program,” RCMP Supt. Kara Triance told city council on June 19. “Right now, it is a conclusion of the old program and a re-entry of the officers who are interested in re-applying into the new program. The first phase is ongoing right now of the re-entry of already established auxiliary officers, bringing back their training and their re-entry.”

But, that’s not the same view taken by the province.

“The Ministry of Public Safety and Solicitor General is working with the RCMP on developing a new auxiliary program,” the Ministry said in an email to iNFOnews.ca. “This is in initial development and consultations will take place with stakeholders in the future.”

The auxiliary police program was launched in 1963, according to a 2016 Globe and Mail article.

In January 2015 RCMP, Const. David Wynn and auxiliary Const. Derek Bond were checking licence plates in the parking lot of an Alberta casino, the article says. They were confronted by an armed person stealing a truck. The police officer was killed and the auxiliary wounded.

The program was suspended in 2016 and terminated in 2020.

There have been ongoing discussion between the Province of BC and the RCMP with a major stumbling block being uniforms. The RCMP insisted the auxiliary members wear uniforms saying they are volunteers. The province and local governments insisted they say Auxiliary.

READ MORE: Fighting to get auxiliary police onto city streets is an uphill battle, says the man leading the charge in B.C.

A December 2022 posting on the RCMP’s website says the most identifiable markings on the auxiliary’s uniform will be “shoulder flashes and patches which state the words ‘Auxiliary/Auxiliaire’ and the forge cap band will be blue.

There are three levels of auxiliaries under the new program, with the most highly trained being Level 3.

“Level 3 will be very similar to what we have seen in the past,” Kelowna RCMP media relations officer Const. Mike Della-Paolera told iNFOnews.ca. “They will be dressed like police. They will act like police. They just won’t be carrying a firearm. Kelowna has opted for that level of auxiliary only.”

The RCMP website says Level 3 auxiliaries perform all the duties of lower levels but can also do general duty patrols, attend calls, do check stops, scene security and searches, as directed by a regular member.

They are expected to volunteer 180 hours per year as well as go through training.

“The problem is, everybody has to get security cleared,” Della-Paolera said. “Everybody has to be trained. So you’re not going to see any auxiliaries on the road until we go through that process. That’s going to take six months, I would say, minimal.”

Triance told council the first phase, this year, will be to re-enter and train former auxiliary officers with new ones not being recruited and trained until next year.

Auxiliaries used to contribute about 11,000 hours of volunteer service each year in Kelowna before the program was cut back.

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