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RCMP Training Academy Depot (commonly known as "Depot" or "RCMP Depot"), located in Regina, Saskatchewan, has been for the last 125 years the location where the newly appointed Royal Canadian Mounted Police Officer "cadets" receive their police training . The facility is located in the North West part of Regina, near the airport, and consists of several buildings. In the RCMP's early days, "Depot" had horse stables and employed veterinarians.After the long recruitment process, candidates are scheduled to attend the training academy. Cadets are grouped together in what the force calls "troops". A troop consists of 24 men and women who follow their entire 24-week training together. New troops start about every three weeks. The number of trainee s at "Depot" varies in relation to the demands of the force. Following tradition, the RCMP still has their trainees sleep in dormitories. The entire troop sleeps in one large room (with exception of female cadets, who sleep in different dorms from the men).
"Depot" is the only location where the RCMP trains its new officers. The only possible rare exceptions are Mounties trained at an Ottawa region facility in the 1950s or 1960s. At that time, due to extensive hiring, Depot could not handle the overwhelming number of candidates. Therefore, the RCMP had established the additional training facility in Ontario. This training center, now closed, was located by the present Ottawa RCMP stables, where the horses of the RCMP Musical Ride are kept off-season. The buildings of the former Ottawa training center have become the Canadian Police College , a Canadian government institution which offers continuing-education courses for currently employed police officers.
In addition to training new RCMP officers, "Depot" is also a major center for police continuing-education in Canada. It delivers updated and highly specialized training to experienced RCMP officers but also to members of other forces who want to improve their knowledge.
With a heritage of over 100 years, the RCMP training academy carries a very good reputation in Canadian police training education. Many Canadian municipal and provincial police forces hire police officers who graduated from the RCMP training academy. But no one can join the RCMP as a regular member without following the RCMP 24-week training. Candidates who are graduates of the Ontario Police College or other such institution must undergo the complete RCMP training.
The RCMP training academy has altered its curriculum due to the social and economic changes of Canadian society; the school now focuses more on knowledge relating to the multiple facets of law enforcement than on military discipline. In the early 1990s, the six-month thorough military-style RCMP training was slightly modified to face the new make-up of trainees. Cadets are now about 10 years older than their 1950s or 1960s counterparts; and decade after decade, the ratio of college and university-educated future Mounties keeps increasing. The higher maturity level of trainees requires fewer disciplinary actions and enables the instructors to focus on the very demanding requirements of modern police work.
Law enforcement in Canada
Royal Canadian Mounted Police
