OSOYOOS TIMES-September 23, 2009

By Paul Everest – Osoyoos Times

It was in a Grade 11 criminology class that Const. Kelly Baker of the Osoyoos-Oliver RCMP first knew she wanted to be a police officer and make a difference.
“It was really the only thing I ever imagined myself doing,” she said.
Baker, who has been with the local detachment for a year, is one of five female Mounties serving this community and one of 3,755 women serving with the RCMP across Canada.
On Sept. 16, the national police force celebrated the 35th anniversary of women joining the RCMP as regular members.
It was May of 1974 when RCMP Commissioner M.J. Nadon announced the force would begin accepting applications from women and on Sept. 16, 1974, the first group of 32 women arrived at the RCMP’s training facility in Saskatchewan known as “Depot.”
On March 3, 1975, the first all-female troop graduated from the training facility.
Beverley Ann Busson was one of those graduates and her first posting was to a 12-member detachment in Salmon Arm in 1975.
She said she was very well received by her fellow officers and the community.
“People were more curious than anything.”
Busson said she remembers her staff sergeant at the detachment being skeptical, but he encouraged her success.
Coming up through the ranks was an interesting experience, Busson said, from training to the day she became the RCMP’s commissioner in 2006.
She is still the only woman to have held that rank.
When her group of trainees came to Depot, they found that the facility had been changed to accommodate women.
Urinals were torn out of dorms and different weights were put in the weight room.
There was also a “big brother troop” to help the new officers along.
Most of Busson’s experiences were positive and she said her presence was often requested by male colleagues as it was believed having a woman along would serve as a calming force.
“We were involved in situations where there were bar fights where the guys that I worked with… said ‘If you weren’t here, we would have been in a much bigger fight,’” she said.
Eventually the men realized they could count on the women officers to be there when needed and became aware that women could do the same job as men.
“We’re now in a generation where members have never been working without female colleagues shoulder-to-shoulder,” she said.
Busson served as commissioner from December, 2006, to July, 2007, and continues to be involved in the force through various task forces and committees.
She now lives in Salmon Arm.
Baker, who comes from the Aldergrove/Abbotsford area, said the odd situation comes up where gender does become an issue, such as an incident when she was talking to a man who insisted on speaking with a male officer instead of her.
“It was a little frustrating but you encounter so many people who respect you because you’re a female,” she said.
Overall, Baker said her experience with the RCMP has been one of respect and strong connections.
“It never seems like it’s male and female,” she said. “We’re just like a family that gets along great.”
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