The following is a timeline outlining the Friday, May 19 night shift patrol of the Sundre RCMP detachment's Cpl. Joe Mandel: 6-7 p.m. — Arrive at the detachment by 6 p.m. for a rotation between the day and night shift.
The following is a timeline outlining the Friday, May 19 night shift patrol of the Sundre RCMP detachment's Cpl. Joe Mandel:
6-7 p.m. — Arrive at the detachment by 6 p.m. for a rotation between the day and night shift. Coordinate and confirm plans for the night's patrols with fellow officers. Gear up and get prepared for the night ahead, including snacking on beef jerky. Officer on day shift delayed by a call on way back to the station.
7-9 p.m. — Following brief delay, attend a check stop positioned northwest of Sundre at Highway 584 and Rig Street South. Visual inspections of vehicles for any infractions as well as courteous, professional interactions — mostly positive — with visitors and local land users driving out into the country to camp for the long weekend. No impaired drivers nabbed throughout check stop's duration.
9 p.m. — Begin back country patrol going north on Rig Street. Cross paths with two other members attending the scene of a damaged car abandoned in a ditch. Officers suspect an impaired driver who quickly fled after failing to navigate a corner due to excessive speed.
10 p.m. — Double back during a patrol along Ho Chi Min Trail after receiving a report of a firearms complaint shortly after 10 p.m. from an area that had been passed earlier. Accompanied by two other members in another cruiser, the corporal attends a messy camp area with several groups of young campers. Police calmly explain their presence and concern for everyone's safety, and are told that the report might have been the result of fireworks. One youth asks the corporal about what a career in policing is like, while another who said he'd been drinking non-alcoholic beer nevertheless requested a breathalyzer test, which officers gladly obliged. Blowing zero, the teenager who was on a graduated driver's licence expressed relief and gratitude.
10:45 p.m. — Shortly after leaving the camp and resuming the patrol, Alberta Conservation officers request police assistance after pulling over nearby a suspected drunk driver whose speech was slurred. The corporal arrives on scene with two other members, who take the impaired driver into custody and back to the detachment. The corporal remains alone on the scene with the four passengers, including the owner of the car, which is to be seized as the driver was operating the vehicle while suspended. The passengers end up walking to a nearby camp. Maintaining his situational awareness, the corporal patiently waits for a tow truck, occasionally munching on jerky. The car's owner decides to return and requests a ride back into Sundre, which the officer obliges.
1 a.m. — Following a longer-than-expected wait of about two hours, the tow truck arrives. Within about a quarter of an hour, the officer is on the road once again with the passenger in the back for the return trip to the detachment. Along the drive back west of Caroline on Highway 54, the scene of a non-fatal rollover catches the corporal's eyes and he pulls over to offer assistance. He is informed ambulances have just left the scene and that the situation is under control, and so resumes the return trip back to the station.
2 a.m. — Arriving back at the detachment shortly after 2 a.m., the corporal and his colleagues process the impaired driver, who blew double the legal limit and was later released after securing an alternative way home. The officer catches up with some fellow members and they share a few of the night's stories.
2:30 a.m. — Quick macaroni and cheese snack. With some time still on the shift's clock, the corporal gets back in his patrol vehicle to drive around Sundre, starting in the northeast subdivision and around the local hospital before checking the Snake Hill parking lot, Main Avenue, as well as the industrial park. Before going back to the detachment, he stops to fill up with gas nearby.
3:30 a.m. — Back at the station, the corporal parks his cruiser after a nearly 10-hour shift and prepares to pack it in and get enough rest to do it all again the next night.
