Weyburn's newest police recruit came out of high school wanting to be either a fire fighter or a police officer, and made his choice to take training as a police constable.
Weyburn's newest police recruit came out of high school wanting to be either a fire fighter or a police officer, and made his choice to take training as a police constable.
Ryan Cherniawsky of Regina was officially sworn in by city solicitor Mike Weger as the city's newest police officer on Thursday afternoon, and shortly will begin a four-and-a-half month course at Saskatchewan Police College before returning to take up duties as a new constable.
After graduating from high school, Cherniawsky spent three years as a wild land fire fighter based out of Stoney Rapids.
"I worked part-time with the RCMP while I was there. They were all young guys like myself; when calls came in, there was lots of excitement. It looked like a lot of fun, and it was everything I wanted to do. With fire fighting there was a lot of down time," he said Cherniawsky.
He pointed out that jobs for police officers in the province are "few and far between" right now, so when a job vacancy came up from Weyburn, he and his wife decided to jump at it and take the opportunity.
In addition to working part-time with the RCMP, he noted he also worked as a deputy sheriff in Regina, often doing prisoner transport to and from court.
"We made up a list of places we'd like to go to or not go to, and Weyburn was one of those we'd like to go to," said Cherniawsky.
He and his wife are happy to come to Weyburn, noting, "It gives you a small town feeling, and that's sort of what we were looking for. It seems like a good town."
Asked if he might want to specialize in anything at Police College, he just shook his head and said, "I'm going to be a sponge, take it all in. I enjoy investigations, that's something I'd be interested in doing. Right now I just want to finish college."
Cherniawsky said one of the areas he has volunteered for in Regina was with the Red Cross, helping them deal with disaster management, and also worked as a union rep while working with the sheriffs.
In welcoming Cherniawsky to the community, Mayor Debra Button, chair of the Police Commission, said, "We are happy to have you here. This is a wonderful community, and I'm sure you'll like it."
