A graduation ceremony at Lethbridge College on Friday saw seven eager cadets walk across the stage to officially join one of two southern Alberta police services.
Christian Olson, Jesse Parmar, Joshua Smith, Dallas Stelmack, Kai Streigel and Derrick Van Hienen will be serving as officers in Lethbridge, while Kirsten Barwegen will be the newest member of the Blood Tribe Police Service.
“It’s just been a long journey but we’re all very excited to be here,” Streigel said before the ceremony.
The cadets have completed a rigorous selection and training process to get to this point.
According to Acting Sgt. Shane Kisinger, few applicants actually make it to this day and the additions will help address a staffing shortage.
“It involves a lot of different steps and interviews, polygraph and psych tests,” he explained.
“So when they go through all that and they’re finally selected, then they hit the academy (and) go through 22 weeks of very formalized training.”
Streigel, who was named top of the cadet class, said he plans to stay in Lethbridge for the long run.
“It’s always been a second home to me,” the British Columbia native explained.
“I’d like to begin my career here and maybe go into the youth engagement unit in the future and work with students and kids.”
Meanwhile, Barwegen feels prepared for the challenge of working for the Blood Tribe Police Service.
The mixture between rural and municipal policing piqued her interest.
“They have their own unique challenges and (I think it’ll be) a cool way to start my career,” she said.
“Women are a third of (the service) now, so it’s going be to very cool to work with some incredible females as well and just to learn experience from them.”
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