RICHARD ALLEN SCOTT - Through the Years

RICHARD ALLEN SCOTT
THROUGH THE YEARS
Langley Detachment
I was very happy to get back to operational police work in
Langley, although with 8 years service I was the senior
Constable on a shift and had to work hard to reacquaint
myself with all the statutes and procedures that had
changed since I left in 1970 so that I could properly direct
more-junior members. At least now the shifts were only 8
hours long…days, evenings, and my worst, midnights, of
which we had to do 7 in a row. Hated that. Langley
Detachment was headed by a crusty old Staff-Sergeant,
but then became an Inspector’s Detachment, with a
young Inspector parachuted in over the S/Sgt. They
didn’t get along well…with the S/Sgt. transferring and
then retiring. Was kind of tense in the office.
July 1975
As the senior Constable on the shift, I unfortunately got saddled with a recruit on his Recruit
Field Training Program…something we didn’t have when I started. He would accompany me on
all shifts until I was satisfied that he had the skills and knowledge to be on his own….and I was
able to positively ‘check the boxes’ in his book. Well, this guy was something else. He was a
university graduate, and thought he was better than most of us, and was somewhat insulted that
me, a simple Grade 12 graduate, was telling him what to do. After several extremely frustrating
months, I was able to check those boxes and get him the hell out of my police car (I much
preferred working alone!). I understand that he didn’t stay in the Force for more than a couple
of years. It just wasn’t for him, and I’m sure the citizenry with whom he dealt weren’t sorry to
see him go either.
One event that comes to mind occurred on a dayshift, when I was asked to provide uniform
backup to our plainclothes and drug investigators (we only had one of each) as they conducted
a drug raid in a downtown Langley apartment. One of the fellows knocked quietly on the door
and when an answer came “Who’s there?”, he responded “Well, it sure as f--- ain’t Mary
Poppins” as he hammered the door with a large sledge hammer and we ran in and were able to
prevent those inside from flushing the drugs. The drug member, Cst. Larry Campbell, is now a
Senator!
Had my first and only police car accident in
Langley. Myself and an Auxiliary Constable
who was riding with me that night, Gord Parrott,
the funniest guy I’ve ever known, were taking a
curve a bit too fast on a snowy night on our way
to Fort Langley. We were laughing like idiots,
and where the road curved we kept going
straight….and into a gully. We were OK and the
car sustained only minor damage. The Corporal
came out to investigate and take photos and we
convinced him that it was because the roads
weren’t plowed or salted…not my fault!
June 2017
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