Nearly 20 officers from RCMP detachments and municipal police departments, across B.C. and Alberta, are hitting the road next week for the second part of their training.
The 2019 RCMP Motorcycle Operators Course is being held in Kelowna for the very first time, at the University of British Columbia and its Okanagan campus.
“Normally we would have held this course in the lower mainland. However this year we have candidates from Alberta and several from the interior and southeast districts. Kelowna UBCO here was generous enough to offer us up some space including the parking lot and a classroom and we took advantage of it,” said Lead Instructor, Sgt. Bryan Fedirchuk.
The first five days of the program are spent in the parking lot completing advanced skills cone courses, improving their basic skills and abilities.
"We teach them all slow speed stuff; how to make 90 degree turns, how to turn your motorcycle inside of an 18 foot circle. We teach them hazard avoidance because we're looking for clutch throttle control, head and eye placement, and making as much use of the pattern as you can, to be successful in navigating them," said Fedirchuk.
Once the candidates master their skills they will be cruising around Kelowna to complete real-life scenario training.
Exercises will include intersection enforcement, a regular traffic and highway segments.
"For the most part, our candidates will be saying ‘if you've committed an offence we'll advise them but otherwise we're stopping you for training purposes, thank you very much’.”